The 12 Week War
by Conduit42
Summary: 2016: After a surprise Hunter raid, Firefly support crafter, Elijah Quinn tries to lead the remaining survivors through a horrifying Western frontier to reach a safehouse in Kansas. On the way, as tensions rise, he and the few remaining fighters left must build their ranks to fight through enraged Hunters, a growing faction with an insidious plan, and a new breed of infected.
1. The End of A Beginning

The 12 Week War

Chapter 1- The End of A Beginning

Secret Firefly Hideout in Boston- **December 2016**, **4:30 morning**.

**2 weeks after the power struggle… **

He was very, very angry. Climbing out of the black SUV, he slammed the back door shut and rushed along to the entrance of the hideout without his guard. He paused as he noticed the blood stains and scorch marks along the door's lining. The glass itself was busted. He just stepped over and heard it crunch beneath his black combat boots. His guard, Jared, finally caught up.

"Sir, please, I understand you're angry but still, just wai-", his rifle-bearing guard began.

"Save it! When I find that bastard… the doctor will pay for this."

"Roland…" the older man stopped in his tracks. "You need to remember: you gave the greenlight on this journey of his."

"I had no idea what he was working on. He told me it was for research on the cordeyceps infection. But Marauders get involved?! How the fuck do the damned Marauders get involved in simple supply raids?

"I don't know, sir… Carl… the doctor dropped the ball", the young man conceded.

"Oh, you're fucking right he did!" Roland exclaimed loudly as possible. Other occupants of the base had noticed their leader's anger and did their best to steer clear and tend their wounded.

"Look, I don't know what to say. At least hear him out before you decide to do whatever you're planning", the guard said.

"I heard him out once and look where that got us!" he froze and kicked a dead body wearing dark armor, hard. "Do you see this shit? Imagine the heat that will come down on us from the military. And God knows what the fucking Hunters have planned for their 'retribution'".

Jared froze. "Sir, you didn't hear?" he said in a leveled tone.

"What?"

"A Firefly on the expedition found out what was really going on and found a way to settle a deal with the main Hunters he came across", he said simply.

"What? How would I know that? I've been killing infected way in California! How did he do that? Who was it? …was it the same one that saved…"

The guard looked down and said, "Yes, sir it is".

"When I find this man remind me to thank him".

"Of course, sir." The young Firefly continued down a pathway. "But you could always do it right about now. If you feel like waiting. He's here. In the base getting treatment for gunshot wounds".

"Damn it! How much longer does he have?"

"I don't know anything about that, sir. He might just pull through. If he can make it through the shit he's seen, he can make it through anything. You know, they call him "The Wraithslayer" for what he did at some winter resort. Took down that one faction of Hunters, the "Wraiths of Lakeside", all by himself I hear. I was a part of the clean-up crew for that. If it's true that he did all of that, then damn… he'll make it through this."

"That's… that's impressive. I suppose the Hunters don't necessarily appreciate that from him", Roland mused.

"No, he was a target for most of the expedition after that. And that was just after his Firefly faction community was raided way out westward. He knew that he could've been killed at any moment and still went to deal with the Hunters to end this fight."

"One more reason to be thankful for him. What's this hero's name?"

"I hate to say it but…" the young guard paused in of a door with a red caduceus on it.

"You don't know", Roland said.

"I don't know. But, here's what I do know. Dr. Westmore is probably behind this door, surveying the destruction he caused and wondering, _'Could I get away with this?'_"

"Let me answer that for him". The Firefly leader pushed the door open and as his young guard would have it, there the lying bastard was, Carl Westmore, 'surveying' a man on his deathbed surrounded by other medics that were actually eager to save his life. The doctor looked on with a certain twisted look as though to say, '_This is what you deserve'_. _'That bastard!'_ Roland thought.

"Westmore!"

He was visibly startled and jumped slightly. His light-brown hair partially covered his face and stubble made him look like a failed rock star or something like that. His height made it difficult to not spot him and that's probably what he wanted: attention. Roland was about to give him some.

"Y-yes, sir?" he said timidly.

Roland advanced on him slowly, murderous intent building with each step but was met with concerned gazes from the medics. '_Not the place for this shit', _he thought,_ 'you'll get yours… later'._ "What the hell am I looking at here?" The man looked slightly annoyed at the scene before him: a young Firefly recruit, unconscious, medics stood over him, concern written all over their manner.

The doctor was surprised at first, but quickly regained composure for his peers. "Sir, that's…" he paused to shuffle through the documents in his hand until he pulled out a circular pendant attached to a silver chain, etched with the symbol of a winged creature split into two. He grimaced in disgust at the name in front of him. "Elijah…Quinn. One of the few survivors from… the expedition incident."

"You mean your little adventure deep into Hunter territory that cost me some of my best men? The one that started all this insanity? The one that almost cost me..." he stopped. She wasn't his to lose, she reminded him that every time he made it clear that he started to worry about her. "That 'incident'?" the Firefly leader said in a hushed, almost enraged tone.

"The one that yielded results like no other, Roland!" it was his turn to sound angry. Until he realized who he was speaking to and lowered his tone. His boss just shook it off. "I mean to say, it's been two years since whatever this is began. The government's come no closer to ending this. I… haven't either. But, I was the one who discovered the possibility of ending this! And I will admit, I miscalculated. I trusted the wrong people with sensitive information, I know this now. But, the discovery we made? I'm sorry, sir, but this…" he gestured around him to the destruction and death. "This led us somewhere great. We now have extensive data on how far the corruption can take someone. How it could absolutely remove anything, whether human or dog, from it is original form and change it into something like a large lion or explosive-throwing maniac! All because of-"

"Of him, because of Quinn." Roland said well aware of the rage building in the doctor.

"What?! Him? That mindless grunt? The one that couldn't even keep his community of less than 26 alive through this war? He's a fucking support crafter! What could he-?" the doctor raged.

"You mean the war that was caused by you overstepping your boundaries? 'Let me accompany a group of raiders into their next trip somewhere far. Who knows what I might find?' I've heard around about him. **You** wouldn't have made it without **him**", Roland mocked Dr. Westmore.

"And look at what I did find! Something that could turn the tide against the military and give me free rein on my research!"

"You. Wanted. To Spread. The fucking-!", Roland was ready to snap.

A hacking cough and abrupt cry interrupted them.

"Oh shit, he's awake. I need you to hold him down before he tears his bandages and bleeds out!"

Westmore walked away grumbling "…save us all the trouble", "waste of supplies". Roland hardly noticed his disappearance except for the fact he was a lot less infuriated and more worried. "Will he make it through?" he thought aloud.

One of the medics spoke up, "If I administer some medication and can keep him calm enough… yes, possibly…"

"Do what you need to do. This man is a hero. A true hero. Keep him alive. Let me know when he's stable enough… for a conversation."

"Yes, sir. Could wait outside and give us some time to work?"

Roland nodded and stepped out. '_The_ _Wraithslayer, huh? This… will be an interesting story to hear'_, he thought as he stroked his graying beard.

And yes, he was sure as hell was right.

**A/N: And away we go to hear the tale of one Firefly's adventure through the series of battles fought during the power struggle for supplies, territory, lives, and a truth that might just break the rest of the world down. Permanently. The story of Elijah A. Quinn continues next time on "The 12 Week War". Who knows where we might go...**

** You have no idea how good I feel seeing my story on this great site for others to see. I am ecstatic to see if I have a future in this.**


	2. The Awakening

Chapter 2- The Awakening

Inside a makeshift med-bay- **8:56 morning**.

The sunlight was killing him. Which he found pretty ironic given his occupation.

'_What was it again…?'_ he thought groggily, trying to fight off the medication's promising lull of returning to sleep. _'Oh, I remember now. Firefly… support crafter. Not a fuckin' community leader'_. He's only been awake twice in the past four hours, not doing much but writhing in sudden pain and immediately put back under by exhausted medics, but he remembers how it all lead to the moment he was confined to a bed.

And it made him sick.

'_My fault… all my fault'_, he thought bitterly. Vivid memories of him commanding others angrily, charging forward to fire a gun through a downed Hunter's skull in front of a horrified audience, him driving them forward without end to find safety for them all, especially for that one woman he had grown to love so much. Completely ignoring all the signs of what was the underlying problem to it all.

'_That fucking doctor…' _he cursed Dr. Westmore viciously in his mind. Even though some of the blame was from Elijah, the lion's share went to the doctor. If it wasn't for what he was doing to the infected… with those insane Marauders… maybe she would've…

'_Westmore'_, he spoke in his head like an angry chant. Rage gave him false strength. He made a move to prop himself up on his right arm, leading him to a new discovery: Elijah's right arm was in a cast wrapped slung over his left shoulder. Too late, he discovered as he ended up falling back over and hitting his head on the metal bedpost.

"Ah, damn it!" he cursed. He pulled his left arm over to shield his eyes from the sun's rays and figure out a new plan to regain motion. As he was settling on just throwing himself down and crawling to the find the doctor and kill him, a woman, who he assumed was a medic, walked into his room, fixated on what looked like a clipboard.

"Ookay, just gonna check this dude's vitals, dole out a couple of doses of oxycodone, possibly get an autograph, if he so kindly wakes up, and be on my merry way. Simple enou- holy shit, you're alive!" she exclaimed in surprise, dropping her clipboard in the process.

"'_Holy shit, you're alive"? That's real comforting_', Elijah kept to himself. _'Thanks a lot, lady'._

"Uh, sir? Can. You. Hear. Me?" she said, enunciating every word clearly.

He let out a heavy sigh. "Yes, yes, I can hear you fine". He was surprised at how weak his voice sounded.

"Damn, I guess the stories about you are true…" she mumbled silently trying to not let him hear. It didn't work.

"Something like me being", he coughed loudly. "…'invincible', huh?" he finished.

She looked down awkwardly. "Something like that…" she mumbled again.

Elijah stared at her as best he could from his position. "Could you… help me up?" he asked. He'd have tried to do it himself again but was feeling weak and tired all over.

Her eyes widened. "I don't think you should be trying to stand up. I mean, it's not my call. Maybe you should wait and I can go get my boss?" she concluded.

"I've been in this bed for way too long. I don't know how long but enough to be tired of sleeping. Help up, now please".

She looked at him warily. "Fine, fine. Just… try not to get me in trouble, alright?" she asked Elijah, worried.

"Uh huh", he said, worriless.

As she walked over to him, Elijah took the time to notice a few things about her. For one, she didn't look very tall, at least 5'2. Her auburn hair was tied into a ponytail and placed over her right shoulder. _'Isn't that against some kind of regulation or something?'_ he wondered. She had what looked like a dark star tattoo on her left cheek. It stood out on her lightly tanned skin. Also, she looked….young. Like she was still in college._ 'Recruiting pretty young these days, huh? Hunters leave us that fucked?'_ Elijah mused. Reaching him, she offered a hand up and Elijah was took it with his left. He found it a surprise she was able to pull him up fully, showing how much of height contrast between the two. _'I'm like what… 6'8 or something? Lady's pretty strong'_, he thought.

"Sooo, you're up. Great. Please try not to bleed all over the floor. Or over me. That'd be unsanitary", she said.

"It's second on my list", Elijah replied.

"Ah, so what's first?" she asked.

"First, find…" he paused to allow himself to be disgusted. "Westmore…" he finished, nearly spitting it out.

She led him to the 'med-bay's' exit door. "You mean that doctor who was on that one outing to go west? I've been hearing his name along, and not in a good way… the hell did he do that was so bad?"

"He fucked up. That's all that matters… and he'll pay for it".

She looked over to him and a made a face. "Riiight… small problem. He isn't here anymore."

"What?!" Elijah turned to her quickly but would regret that decision. As soon as he turned, his midsection went up in pain. "Ah, fuck!" he clenched at his stomach and felt something rough beneath his shirt. It was the first time he realized that his stomach was wrapped in bandages. He knelt down against the wall to try and deal with the pain.

"Oh, fuck! Ar-are you okay? What can I do to help?" the medic sounded frantic. She leaned to try and pick him back up back Elijah wouldn't have it.

"No, no, I'll be fine. Just… give me a…. a second." he waved her off.

"Dude, let me try to find some help. This can't be good for you!" she said loudly.

"No… I-I got this." Elijah said, slowly making his way up the wall. A hacking cough later and Elijah was shakily on his feet again.

"Oh, man, this was a bad idea…" the medic said.

"Glad you're so concerned. It'll be fine", he said walking off slowly with her following behind him now.

"Yeah, sure. Just don't fall again or I'm getting you a wheelchair".

"They have those here?" he asked. _'That'd been nicer than this….' _he thought but didn't say anything.

She shrugged. "I don't know, somewhere around here."

"Where is 'here' by the way?" he asked.

"We, my friend, we are in the 'Air Capital of The World'!" she put obvious air quotes over that nickname. Elijah stopped walking and stared blankly at her. She looked back. "Wichita, dude?"

Still a blank stare, with furrowed eyebrows.

"Kansas! We're in Kansas, dammit. Specifically, the Towne East Square." She said looking slightly annoyed. Maybe she was from here or something? Elijah couldn't focus on that because he just realized…

"Kansas? We're in fucking…. Kansas." he said quietly. His walking companion had stopped speaking for a moment.

"Right… damn, I'm sorry. I did hear that this was the closest place that was… friendly. I'm… shit, that was stupid of me." she spoke numerous apologies, but Elijah didn't hear any of them. He was too busy focusing on how fucked his situation was at the time.

'_We… were cornered in…'_ his head started hurting trying to remember. Pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes, he worked on narrowing it down. _'Nebraska… or…. Colorado. So fucking close. Damn it…'_ Elijah thought. He began to speed up his walking pace. The medic barely noticed he was way up ahead of her; she had to run up to catch him.

"Elijah, I said I was 'sorry'! Just wait up, you don't need to-", she began another apology.

"Who do I need to speak to?" he cut right to business.

"Wait, what?"

"Someone's in charge here, yeah? A Firefly leader would want to hear about this bullshit. Probably one waiting for me to wake up after however long, yes?" he continued.

"Yes… a man named Roland wanted to see you. He waited around outside your room but after you… 'woke up' for a second time, he said he had some things to take care of and that you'd find him in the food court's Subway.", she concluded.

"Food court's Subway? Why there?"

"It's where we keep most of our rations these days. You haven't eaten in awhile. Maybe this is a lucky break for you", she said jokingly.

The mention of food made his stomach rumble. Which he decided felt pretty weird while it was in pain. He shook his head. "We almost there?" he asked.

"Yes, shouldn't be much longer now".

"Good… good". They walked in silence for a few minutes. Elijah heard his guide begin to whistle a tune of some sort. He wasn't sure why but it reminded him of his favorite hero, Spider-Man. Elijah was about to ask when the medic pointed to a set of double doors being guarded by two armored-up Fireflies holding assault rifles and looking unnecessarily aggressive.

"Ugh, these assholes." he heard his guide whisper to herself.

"What's up with them?" he asked her. She turned to him, distracted by how annoyed she was by the looks of the two ahead. "Just... don't worry about it, I guess. They're as harmless as fleas and just as stupid." she mumbled.

"You know, fleas had a little something to do with the spread of the bubonic plague." Elijah said suddenly. The medic looked at him, confused.

"Just saying."

As the two of them reached the guards, Elijah noticed they weren't looking in the best of moods but they seemed to change when they saw Elijah and the medic.

Especially when they saw him.

"Holy shit", one of them began. "You're-!"

"'Alive'?" his medic spoke. "I already beat you to it".

"Of course, it'd be your luck to have her around when you woke." the first one spoke again. His guide just folded her arms and looked away. Elijah felt himself getting annoyed. _'The hell's their problem?' _he asked himself.

"I suppose you're hear to take… him to Roland, right?" the other spoke in a thick country accent.

"Yeah, that's why we're here", it was Elijah's turn to say something. He wasn't too fond of the looks the two men blocking the door were giving him and the medic. "If you'd be so kind to hurry the hell up and move, that'd be great." Elijah said. The two Fireflies looked at each other with what Elijah assumed was anxiety and moved backwards to push the doors open for him and her to walk through.

Elijah and the medic walked through the doors and heard them hastily close behind them.

"Haha, damn! Now that's a serious reputation you got with you. Oh man, that'd be a little awesome having that. Making those two back the hell off sometimes. Oh, I can see it now..." , she said impressed.

"Hmm, right". Elijah kept moving along. For a few minutes, the two walked past other medics and Fireflies, with injuries of their own, with tired medics rushing around trying to help. That was what he found the strangest. Why was he laid down in relative comfort while others were still here, being forced to continue working?

"There, Roland should be in there", she had pointed to a burned out sign labeled 'Subway' with the iconic white and yellow sign faded and caked with black soot. More Firefly guards were posted in front of broken glass doors.

"I can take it from here, thanks." Elijah said, picking his speed up.

"Yeah… no problem, sir", she sounded almost hurt. What was he forgetting to do… right, damn. He turned to face her walking away.

"Hey, wait", she turned back around. "I don't think I got the name of my guide by the way", he concluded.

"Oh, right… yeah, names. I'm, uh, Kari", she said. Elijah walked over to her and offered his hand.

"Thank you, Kari, for being patient enough with me. If those two give you more trouble, well...", he said as she awkwardly shook his hand with her left.

"Not a problem, Elijah. And, um... thank you.", Kari replied then walked off. Elijah nodded, glad to have done that.

'_Alright… now, to find Roland'_, Elijah thought.

"Damn, how are you still walking? I thought that Wraithslayer shit was nonsense", said a guard that was stationed in front of the doors to Roland.

"Still alive", Elijah said, shrugging.

"I…. suppose you're here to see the boss, huh?"

"Yeah, need to get through you two."

"Go right ahead, sir", the two in front of him moved a lot quicker than necessary but they were out of his way now.

'_Is this Wraithslayer shit ever gonna get old?'_ he thought annoyed.

Moving to the back room, he found three Fireflies watching a heated argument between who he assumed was Roland (he was the most authority-looking out of them all) and…

"Holy shit…" Elijah said.

"Oh my God, Elijah!" his old friend and member of his crew rushed forward, pushing two of the three Fireflies out of the way and hugged the hell out of him.

"Marlene…" he said hugging her back. He was so relieved to see her again. _'She must have gotten me back here, to Kansas'_, he thought.

She pulled back, possibly realizing there was others around and decided to speak first. "You… you're… you look better", Marlene settled on.

"Gee, thanks, friend. Glad you decided to notice", he joked with her.

"Yeah… and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you all behind the way I did. Maybe you could've used the extra gun hand. But, I was… it's just my fault Ash is gone", she lowered her gaze.

"Stop… I-I don't… blame you. Those people needed someone to protect them. And you were good at what you did. That's why you were the boss. Anyway, it's Westmore. He's to blame." Elijah said.

"You're fucking right he is", the man who he identified as Roland, walked over. He was pretty damn intimidating. Only an inch or two taller than Elijah, with graying black hair and looking somewhat muscular. Roland seemed to be eyeing the display between Elijah and Marlene and looked a bit… displeased? Why? Elijah wasn't sure.

And Marlene didn't care. "Are you going to talk to him or just stand there in his face?"

That got Roland's attention. "We will continue this conversation later, Marlene. Everyone get out."

"You and me will catch up later, alright?" Marlene promised him.

"Alright… I'll, uh, see you later", Elijah said.

Marlene and the other three Fireflies walked out of the backroom. After they cleared out, Elijah was able to notice a medium sized table with two metal folding chairs seated across from each other. On one side of the table, there was a brown paper bag. That's the side Roland sat on. _'No seat left…'_ Elijah moved to the other side and sat down. Roland seemed to study him for a few seconds before beginning his talk. He took out the contents of the bag, one by one: a dull-colored book, a round-circular pendent, a stained grey lighter, his old Sony Walkman device, and a broken silver-blue watch. Elijah's eyes widened.

"These… belong to you", Roland said. "We found them in your pack and thought you'd want these back", he finished.

Elijah outstretched his left arm to take them back. The journal he grabbed first. It was mainly a faded green, with faded words that read _'The Amazing Spider-Man: The Story You Never Expected To See. Spidey Cleared By Police, Deemed National Hero!'_. It showed Spider-Man doing… what a spider does when fighting crime. He set it down and opened it, finding numerous journal entries, 84 in all. _'84 days…. That's how long it was…'_ he thought. Elijah reached for his pendent and read it: _'Elijah Quinn… Firefly number 000423'_, he read to himself. Flipping it over, Elijah looked at the symbol he was once proudly wore around his neck, the symbol of the Fireflies. _'Biggest mistake of my life…'_ He set the pendent down and could hear Roland's light exhale. Next, the lighter was in his grasp. _'Ah… the lighter. The fires we started, eh, old friend?'_. He set that down. Then, his old Walkman was in his hand. He turned the black device over to it's front and found the recording still in it. He just sighed at it. Finally, he grabbed the watch and saw small glass particles tumble out. It had a dried blood tone to it and the wrist strap was torn and falling apart. The inside didn't look much better, gears had sprung from their places, effectively keeping them from working. He closed his eyes and remembered how it had ended up this way. Roland clearing his throat pulled him from his thoughts.

"I'm sorry. This shouldn't have happened at all. When I get my hands on the doctor…" Roland started.

"Get in line, he's mine. You can have whatever's left after I'm done." Elijah said.

"There's a time and place for everything, I suppose. Now, isn't for that", Roland breathed in and out. "I need to hear from you what the fuck exactly happened."

"What do you mean?"

"I've only heard bits and pieces regarding what happened. But… Marauders? A new breed of…. Infected? Elijah, you're one of the few who've seen this happen. And you're the only one who's killed one of the…. What was it called…?" Roland asked to no one in particular.

"A Ravager…" Elijah whispered.

"Yeah… a Ravager. That's it." Roland paused. "Look, I know… I get it. You had to… step way the hell out of your comfort zone. No one was able to do what you did for them. I understand. And for that I thank you. Even more, you… you saved someone close to me. You saved my daughter. And for that I owe you."

"Daughter?" Elijah wondered aloud. He seemed to consider this. When he realized it he said, "You… don't mean…?"

"Yes, I mean Marlene."

"Marlene… is your daughter?"

"Yeah, she is."

Elijah mouthed 'wow' and leaned backwards in the chair.

Elijah seemed to ponder all that happened in the past. All the trials he had to fight through to get where he was. In a destroyed Subway's back room with one arm in a cast and his stomach wrapped in bandages. If he knew **this** was all he had to show for two years of dodging bullets and witnessing burnt bodies and just…'surviving', he would've stayed back in Louisiana's QZ.

'_No… probably not there… but, maybe I could've took my chances with the Hunters… Probably a lot less bullshit.'_ he thought.

He looked at Roland. "Alright… I'll tell you. I'll tell you everything, but I need something from you. Two somethings."

"'Ask and ye shall receive', Elijah. As I said, I owe you a lot more than I can say."

"I want to leave. The Fireflies, I mean. I'm just done with this whole thing."

Roland opened his mouth to speak, most likely to object, but Elijah's emotionless gaze stop him short.

"You know people don't normally 'leave' the Fireflies, right?" he asked.

"This isn't a normal circumstance. I have a good reason. It's the second thing on my list."

"And that is…?"

"If I'm not a Firefly… I could basically do what I want. Without any rules from anyone."

"Except for the military. The people we're gridlocked with over the Eastern territory. There's them. Plus, you won't be flying our colors anymore. Hunters and Marauders might come for you", Roland warned.

"A risk I'm willing to take", Elijah replied.

"Why?"

"I want to find Dr. Westmore. And I want to be the one to kill him. Feed him to the fuckin' infected he's so 'enthralled' with."

"That's not the most outrageous thing I've heard… deal. It'll be one less problem to deal with, get me?"

"Yes, I do."

Roland stretched his left hand out to shake Elijah's. Him and Elijah shook hands and a deal was met.

"Now", Roland began. "I need to hear it all, from the beginning. I know you went way out westward. To Washington, if I'm correct? To find ingredients for this plague?"

"That's what we were told."

"But you didn't find it."

"Over a year was spent traveling through Canada to reach Washington without having to deal with Hunters. And nothing but more Hunters on the end. I can't even remember if we made it to Washington..."

"What was it that lead to them being able to force you all out?" Roland asked.

Elijah considered the question with great thought, then came to a conclusion.

"We were fuckin' with the wrong people."

**A/N: Are you ready to witness all the horrors and dangers Elijah and the other Fireflies had to face from hopes of saving the world to hopes of just staying alive?**


	3. One More Problem

Chapter 3- One More Problem To Worry About

**09/29/16, 12:20 am…**

_**Four days before the fight began…**_

"Are we there yet?" he asked him again.

"No."

"Are you sure?" he asked again.

"Yes."

"Well damn it, man. Any longer and you're gonna have to carry me", his friend said.

"You out yo' damn mind, Kyren", Elijah said with a deep laugh.

"Alright, just remember who saved you after the 'smoke bomb incident' back in Montana", Kyren said.

"Ah, now that was hurtful", said Elijah with mock shame.

He and friend laughed with each other. Despite the situation of being on the road for so long, and with the food supply getting slowly lower, they were glad to keep each other company.

"I can't believe you brought that up! All that powder was caked in my hair for days, you dick."

Kyren raised his hands in mock surrender. "Ha, ha, ha! Ah, man, that was the best laugh we had in weeks. But damn, was Sarah mad."

"Of course she was! Do you know how hard it is to make a smoke bomb while being shot at? Then, when you finally do craft it and try to give it to someone, your own teammate runs into you and you drop the damn thing, getting caught in your own smoke."

Kyren seemed to ponder this. "At least no one died…"

"How could they? There was only five Hunters to begin with!"

Kyren and a few Fireflies who were listening in burst out laughing. Elijah noticed Sarah was one of them.

"Ah… the memories, am I right?" Kyren asked to no one in particular.

"I've been alive for 33 years and what happened back in Montana was the most bullshit experience of my entire life." Elijah said, hearing even more laughter from his friends.

'_This could've been a lot worse. Practically no Hunters up in Canada. Plenty of friendly-ish survivors, willing to help us. Especially when they saw the Firefly symbol. Good thing they watched the news, otherwise we might not've been so lucky. Maybe we shouldn't have stayed so long though… even though I'm pretty sure things were going great with that one lady. Whoo!'_ Elijah laughed to himself. Kyren looked him over. "What's so funny?" Elijah looked at him and shook his head.

_'Then Kyren picks a fight and gets me involved before I could actually feel good about myself...'_, Elijah mused until 6 gunshots were fired into the air from a distance. _'Sounded like a hunting rifle. Might've been more than one…'_ Elijah thought.

"Everybody, hold up!" Elijah heard someone call out way up ahead.

"Hmm, showtime, man", Kyren said to him, clapping down on his shoulder. "Try not to get caught in anymore smoke bombs, ya' hear?"

"Yeah, I'll add it to my list of things to do" Elijah said, smiling.

"God, you and your 'list', man. Just don't get shot in the face. You might end up bleeding out."

"Wowzers. Really?" Elijah replied.

Elijah watched Kyren pull out his Semi-Auto rifle and rush forward to who he saw was Marlene's side, along with 18 others. _'Leader of our little excursion west. She and Kyren have been at this 'save-the-world thing for… however long Fireflies were around'._ He also saw that Dr. Westmore have a heated conversation with Marlene. In the end, she pointed to the middle of the four Fireflies, which happened to be where Elijah was, and saw the doctor walk right next to him. Elijah also noticed the three who stayed behind- two field medics and Sarah the other support crafter just like Elijah- seemed to distance themselves from the doctor and effectively, Elijah. _'Great. Thanks for having my back, friends'._

"Goddammit…" he whispered. Elijah looked him over. He watched as the doctor pushed his long light-brown out of his eyes and scratch his disheveled beard that covered much of his face. He was actually taller than Elijah which he considered to be unfair. To be honest, he looked less like a doctor and more like a rock star that took to drink too much.

"Can I help you?" the doctor asked, pulling him from his concentration.

Elijah made a face at his annoyed tone. Carl Westmore certainly didn't sound like much either.

"No." Elijah said, then sped up to leave the doctor behind. He heard him say something along the lines of "fucking ingrates". The support crafter had better things to do than be insulted by someone who didn't get his way.

He just sped up and followed the group. He began to notice something of interest. Marlene, Kyren, and the other fighters ahead had stopped walking, much farther ahead than the support crafters and field medics. Elijah reached for his right leg and pulled out his 9mm pistol from its holster. _'Haven't had to use you, yet. I wonder if I'll need to today.'_ Elijah thought. He pushed it back into the holster and reached for his left pocket, pulling out his lighter. _'I don't even smoke… but's it's pretty good for keeping warm and making Molotovs so that others can keep that special someone 'warm'. Awww….'_ Elijah laughed to himself. _'Yeah, that was lame.'_ He pushed the lighter back into his pocket and looked at the watch on his right wrist while readjusting his backpack strap.

'_1:12 in the morning. We should find someplace safer than camping out under the stars.' _He looked around him and saw beneath the I-95 highway they were walking on, there was what looked like a school. It looked like it was at decent walking distance. It was doable. _'Except for this drop'_, Elijah thought while looking down. _'We'd have to find somewhere safer than he-'_, Elijah's thought were interrupted when he walked straight into one of the Fireflies.

"Ah damn, my bad, I didn't mean to-", he began.

"Don't worry about it, Elijah. Just get your gun ready if something falls out", said Marlene.

"Oh, uh, yes, ma'am", he hovered his hand over the holster. "What, uh, what's the problem? You see who fired the rifle?" he looked over and asked Kyren.

"No, not yet. We haven't heard anything else, yet. It may have been just a hunter. I mean, a hunting-not-unusually-aggressive-to-Fireflies-on-their-land-hunter. Not the ones whose territory we're neck-deep in", his friend concluded.

"I can't even see the difference…" Elijah said.

"Neither can I", said Marlene. "We've waited long enough. We need to push forward but keep on the lookout for any Hunters or even any Infected. Need to get off this highway as soon as possible and find somewhere safe for the doctor", she finished.

"If you say so, Marlene", Kyren said. "Hey, everybody!" he began loud enough for the crowd to hear. "We're moving down the highway and taking the first exit down to the streets!" he shouted.

"You know, ma'am. I saw an elementary school a couple of minutes back. We could get off the highway and head backwards for the shelter. I don't like being out in the open like this. Especially after those shots", said Elijah.

Marlene considered it for a moment. She was about to speak her decision when Dr. Westmore walked up to the little gathering. "Are we going to move ahead anytime soon or what?" he asked annoyed.

She shot him a glare that made him fold his arms. "Elijah found a place for us to camp tonight. Let 'em know, Kyren." And he did. The others began to walk with a burst of excited energy, knowing they won't be in the cold for much longer.

"Nice job, bro", said Kyren.

"All in a day's work", Elijah replied.

"Yes, good job", said the doctor. Elijah was surprised by the compliment.

"Thanks… I suppose." Elijah said.

He nodded and checked his watch. _'1:45 in the morning. The sun might not rise for a good while. Maybe three or four hours left. If we hurry, we'd be in that school before it rises and be back out tomorrow'_, Elijah thought.

They walked forward for at least 10 more minutes before they heard a series of rapid gunfire

Everyone was put on high alert.

"Hey, that sounded like…" Kyren started.

"Like an assault rifle", Elijah concluded.

"Who brings an assault rifle with them to go 'hunting'?" Marlene asked, looking at Kyren. He shrugged. "We might be walking into a turf war." She turned to face all of them. "I'll need you all to be on the lookout! Point out anything you see that's out of the ordinary."

They all reached a silent agreement, determined to reach the school. As they made their way past overturned cars and dead, decaying bodies another problem became evident.

"Fuck…" Elijah heard a Firefly say. "The damn highway's gone!" He wasn't wrong, that much was clear. Mass and mass of blackened concrete and twisted metal laid on the ground at least 30 feet beneath them. The gap between their side and the other was impossible to try and jump over. He saw that the concrete was in a massive crunched ball. Elijah looked from side to side and saw that the railings were gone too._ 'I don't know, maybe we hang from those metal rebars to lower ourselves? The fall may or may not hurt, but I'm sure we'll be fine. A ban-aid and we'll be great'._

"Well shit. So much for sleeping somewhere that might've been dry tonight." Kyren said. He shook his head. "I swear, it's like the military knew they were going to be able to screw us over in the future."

"You're real great for morale, ain't you?" Elijah asked. Kyren shrugged.

Something was bothering Elijah about the whole situation in front of him. The highway looked like it was recently 'blown apart'. He could thin layers of dust and smoke float up from the concrete. _'I've seen a bridge get blown apart by the military before… but why would they do this now? Am I just being paranoid? But what are the chances the military didn't actually destroy this-?' _Elijah's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of two car doors slamming shut and shouting.

"Fuck, everyone get down!" Marlene whispered as loud as she could without alerting anyone beneath them. Dr. Westmore practically jumped down to hide behind the cars. They all ducked down and hid behind the destroyed cars and waited silently, each of them practically holding their breaths, waiting for something to break out. Elijah looked up from the ground and saw that Marlene's eyes were closed. It looked like she was actually afraid until he noticed the look of absolute concentration on her face. He wondered what she was thinking about. He turned away to stop invading her privacy, but realized he heard voices. Far away, yes, but voices beneath them having a very, loud conversation.

"-and you shot him! Why'd you fuckin' shoot him?!" one voice said.

"He had a gun on me, you jackass! He kept acting he was going to shoot so I shot him!" the other said.

"Look where that got us! They're comin' for us right now!"

"Why'd you stop drivin' the fucking truck then, you fu-?" Elijah heard scraping against the ground like the two were fighting. It went on for a good minute until another car door slammed shut. Someone ran over to break it up.

"Stop, just stop, dammit!" a female voice was heard.

"We're completely fucked! We're outmanned, this moving truck ain't moving anymore 'cause it's out of fuckin' gas, and now, we don't even have any bullets to spare ourselves the hell they have planned for us. Because this dumb fuck wasted a gun he shouldn't have had and killed one of those-!"

"I did what none of you cowards could do!"

"You killed us all, that's what you fuckin' did, Larry!"

"Will you two shut the fuck up?! We can't stay here if we want to live", the woman said.

It was quiet for a moment. Then, someone asked "Where can we go?" in an almost pleading tone.

"We've scouted around here before, Drake. There was an elementary school around here. Maybe a couple of blocks down. If we run, we could make it before they find us." At the mention of the elementary school, Kyren groaned, basically conveying how everyone felt at the moment.

"Alright… alright, that's- that's good. But, we need to go n-", a loud _BANG! _cut Drake off. There was a thump and Elijah knew someone was just killed.

And he couldn't do a damn thing about it.

"I GOT ONE OF THOSE BITCHES! They're on foot now! Hurry the fuck up, people!"

"Rebecca, we need to leave, right now!" She had begun to sob. She didn't sound she was going anywhere.

"Damn it, fine! Stay here!" the one called Larry said. Elijah heard rapid footsteps go in the direction him and the Fireflies just came from. _'That bastard… did that really just happen?'_ he asked himself. It wasn't over yet. He didn't hear anymore footsteps following Larry's, but plenty of heavy one's headed to where he assumed Rebecca still was.

'_No, just go, dammit! Just fucking run!' _Elijah thought frantically. He really wanted to just stand up, throw a smoke bomb down there, and maybe give her a chance to escape. _'Fuck… I-I can't risk blowing our cover… damn it!' _Elijah thought angrily while clenching his fist so hard the knuckles cracked. Kyren noticed his friend's turmoil and put a hand on his shoulder to attempt to calm him. Elijah looked over and realized he wasn't the only one silently raging. Kyren's jaw was clenched, his grip was hard on his Semi-Auto. The runners made a stop.

"Well, well, well. What…do we… have… here?" said one of men. He had a deep, authoritarian voice, one that identified him the leader. Elijah just gritted his teeth and continued to listen, the only thing he could do.

"Hi, dear. How've you been?" he asked in a mocking tone. No answer from Rebecca. "What's wrong, lady? Is it… oh", he snapped his fingers. "I see the problem. Grab her." Elijah was reaching his limit. He got up and moved over the car, it creaked under his weight slightly. He moved up front and got closer to the edging of the highway.

"Elijah…" Marlene warned. Elijah ignored her. _'How is she so fuckin' calm about this?'_ He heard someone walk up next to him and saw that it was Kyren. They nodded to each other and both looked over the highway's edge.

They saw at least 40 people down at bottom, twice their own numbers, surrounding a dark-haired woman wearing a light-blue hoodie and dark gray beanie, on her knees next to a dead body. _'Drake.'_ Elijah thought. One of the men stepped forward. Elijah couldn't see his face but his appearance was… horrifying. The bandit that stepped forward was massive, towering at least 7' feet tall. He wore a dark brown trenchcoat that was smeared with a darkened blood tone and strange yellow spots. He wore a strange mask, almost like a gas mask in appearance. _"_What the hell is that on him?" Elijah wondered aloud.

"I have no idea, man. But… the rest of that stuff on him. Is that blood?"

"I think-", Rebecca's scream cut him short. Elijah looked back over and saw that she was struggling with trying to escape the bandit's grasp. She punched him in the face but all it seemed to do was amuse him. He let her go only to backhand her. Elijah watched, sicker than before. He looked back and saw his allies' gaze on him, looking worried, sad… yet, somehow defiant. If Elijah were to go down there and start something, he knew that they would join in and help. _'I can't… I can't risk the fallout. It won't be good. And I'm not in the position to make decisions like that.' _Elijah over at his friend and saw him glaring at every single one of the bandits, possibly imagining how satisfying it'd be to watch his bullets fly through their skulls. He didn't even notice Elijah shake his head sadly.

The bandit picked Rebecca back up and threw her in front of his leader's feet. He stepped on her back to prevent her from getting back up.

Their leader looked at her sympathetically and leaned down to her height. He whispered something in her ear that made her furious. She began to twist underneath the giant bandit's weight until his foot slipped down to her side. She reached in her hoodie and found what she was looking for: a sharpened shiv. She slashed wildly behind her cutting the bandit across the abdomen and blood spilled rapidly over her body. Elijah, Kyren, and the other bandits watched in shock as the giant toppled downwards, narrowly missing Rebecca. She quickly got up and held the shiv threateningly against the leader's throat.

"That's another one of my men dead. All thank to you damn Hunters. If you kill me, these boys…" he gestured around him. "…will do whatever they want with you. Then, they'll go back to our camp, gather everyone able, and absolutely annihilate your friends, family, whoever you have waiting for you back home." He paused for dramatic effect, to let that scenario flash through her mind.

"Or… you can tell us where the man who killed my friend went to go hide. Do this and he'll die for the man you just killed and you can go back to wherever it is you live to get our payment ready for next month." He said it with such a carefree attitude, Elijah could imagine him saying that he went to the movies and had a nice date with the same tone. _'This is bad. Real bad. This is what we have to deal with here? They're way worse than Hunters!'_ Elijah thought.

Rebecca considered her options. She looked around silently and slowly, reluctantly, withdrew the shiv from his neck. She backed away from him and said "He's at the elementary school. A few blocks back that way. Naples… don't you fuckin' miss it." Then she ran as fast as she could the way she and the Bandits came. Without looking back.

A bandit raised his hunting rifle and took aim. Elijah's eyes widened in horror. But the leader placed his hands on the rifleman. When Rebecca turned the corner and disappeared, he hit the man in the face as hard as he could.

"You fucking missed the first time. Why would you get it right this time?" he spat the downed man. In a twisted display, the man bowed before the bandit leader.

"She's gonna die anyway. All of this guy's blood on her. Yeah, she's fucked." Their leader said while lightly kicking his deceased crew member.

"Goddammit… I really wanted to see if it'd work. But, of course, my fun just had to be ruined. Fuckin' asshole…" he walked over to Drake's body and crouched down, examining the headshot. He observed him real closely. "Fuckin' A, man. Waste of the special ammo..." He turned around to face the man he just punched in the face. "We don't have the fuckin' ammo to waste, jackass! Do you know how long it takes to make this shit? A lot of fuckin' time!" He moved to kick him while he was down but froze. He saw how the rest of the men had their heads down. The leader recomposed himself. "No need to be ashamed, men…" He looked down at him.

"No need indeed." He picked the man up and handed him his rifle, clapped him on his shoulder and sent him on his way. The leader looked down at the body.

"Someone hand me a Molotov." A few seconds later and the man had a bottle filled with a dark brown liquid, topped with a dirty, stained rag. As he searched his body for a lighter, he began to hum a song Elijah couldn't place. For a moment, it drove him mad, not being able to recognize the song. He didn't even realize that Marlene was next to him until he heard a light gasp when the Molotov hit Drake and burned him slowly to a crisp.

The leader looked on with possibly amusement or disgust. Elijah didn't know. And he didn't care.

"Pack up, boys. We're going to find our new friend!" he said. The men let out a cheer that could've been heard miles away. Elijah wasn't sure if wanted Larry to live or not but was too busy noticing something else now. The further away those bandits got away from it, the more he realized the moving truck was in decent condition. He heard them say all they needed was gas. _'If we drain a few Molotovs of the gasoline inside of them we could-'_, Elijah was thinking about an escape route until he heard the doctor's outburst.

"I need to examine those bodies!" he whispered to everyone.

"We don't have time for that!" Marlene shouted at him. "You said we needed to get to Washington and that's what we'll do. We should just turn around and go back to Boston."

"It took us over a year to get here and now you want to turn back?" He scoffed. "I should've asked Roland to come. You're clearly not ready for the sacrifices necessary for this life."

Marlene rose. She didn't seem too happy at the mention of that name, evident by her steeling gaze and the involuntary reach for her sleek black small firearm behind her. "Be very careful, Dr. Westmore."

"Look at that van down there. Get some gasoline from your crafters or something to try and get it started. However long it takes, I'll need something to preoccupy myself for however long it takes. Do what you want but I'm getting down there." He maneuvered his way past her and a few other Fireflies that looked at him with a certain form of disgust. Kyren looked at Elijah, averted his gaze, and moved back over to the rest of the group.

Elijah watched as the doctor stared at the fall beneath him. Elijah sighed and walked over to the doctor. They looked at each other for a minute. Elijah said "Do… do you want some help to get down there?"

"Why, yes, actually. That'd be great. Finally, someone with their head on straight." Elijah instinctively turned around to see Marlene glare at him. He just shrugged slightly and turned back to see the doctor waiting in an impatient manner. "Nice of you to join me." Elijah looked at him. "I need you to grab my hand and lower me down there. Simple enough, right?" he asked him. Elijah would've responded had he had not been interrupted him again. "Great, get ready." _'Maybe after I drop him down there those fuckers'll come back and give him a good scare.'_ Elijah thought to himself.

"Yeah, alright", he settled on being civil-ish. Laying on his stomach now, he heard the doctor take deep breathes. _'Hurry the fuck up, man'_, he thought. Dr. Westmore began to sit down on the ground, grab Elijah's hand, and push himself forward. Elijah dangled the doctor over the mass of concrete and hoped for the best. He let him go and was reassured by the lack of screaming and broken limbs. What he did hear were a few tumbling rocks and a scrambling sound indicating Dr. Westmore rushed over to the two bodies. Elijah was about to turn back and maybe talk with Kyren but found Marlene walking towards him. _'Ah, damn it', _he thought.

"You know, Elijah. Why don't you go down there too? Just to make sure the doctor'll stay safe." Marlene asked him in a way that sounded less and less like a question the more he thought about it.

"Right, yes, ma'am. I'll go", he said reluctantly. Kyren had walked over.

"Marlene, are you sure? I mean, send me instead. I actually know how to shoot a gun." Kyren told her.

She looked at Kyren in with a serious manner. "Send him down", she said before walking off.

"Damn it…" Kyren whispered. "Sorry, man", he said to Elijah.

"It's fine. Orders are orders. Just get me down there", Elijah replied.

Elijah sat down on the highway and realized how cold the ground was to him. Kyren grabbed his hand while Elijah moved himself forward. He fell over the edge but didn't go far as he was being held onto.

"Goddamn, it's like your gaining weight out here." Kyren joked.

"Oh, shut up" he said, trying not to laugh. _'Time to be serious here, man'_, Elijah thought. "Alright…" he looked down and saw the debris was close enough for him. "Drop me." Kyren did as told and was probably relieved by not hearing anything break. _'Ground floor'_, he thought. Sliding from the concrete, Elijah saw the doctor hunched over the charred remains of Drake, strangely… entranced by the body. Elijah walked over while saying to himself "Looking kind of hard there, ain't you?" Of course, he didn't hear him because of his examination. _'Kind of dark out here…' _"Hey. You want my flashlight?" he asked the doctor. No response. "Alright, then." _'Strain your eyes, see if I care.'_

Elijah walked to the moving van and checked it out. _'Looks good enough. Just needs gasoline. We've been doing fine with it for our molotovs. Maybe take up a little donation to get this thing moving?'_ He walked around it to see the rest of it. _'If need be, maybe we could all pile in the back while three sit up front to drive. The damn school isn't an option now.' _Elijah walked back to front of the van and saw that Dr. Westmore had moved from his last spot. Now, he was vomiting by the side of the van. Elijah moved to his side.

"Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay?" he asked frantically. The doctor just shook his head and whispered "What the hell did they do to that man…?" That got Elijah's attention. He turned to face the bandit's corpse and slowly walked over. As he got closer, his sense of smell was being attacked by a sickening odor. He looked at the bandit and saw the most horrifying thing ever.

Right where Rebecca had slashed wildly with her shiv, the blood had crusted up and dried around him. The wound itself was laden with a sickly yellow pus that seemed to flow from the wound and cover the bandit's already bloody shirt with a yellowish tone. It looked as though something was coming off from the liquid. To him it looked like yellow dust was floating slowly off the body. _'B-blood. That... that should be blood. What the fuck is that right there? It looks like… no. No fuckin' way.' _Elijah spent enough time down in sewers, unfortunately to know exactly what that looked like to him. He reached between his yellow hoodie and covered his mouth with his own stained white t-shirt, while stepping back too fast and tripped over himself. The Fireflies still on the highway had noticed the display and started to move down to the street where Elijah and the doctor was.

"Elijah, man. Are you alright? What ha-?" Kyren asked him as he was the first down. Elijah couldn't find his voice to make it work. All he could do was point. His heart dropped when he saw Kyren and a few other Fireflies walk towards the giant bandit's body. "N-no! Stay back! That guy's infected!" Elijah said horrified at how close they gotten to it. At the mention of infected, they all scrambled backwards from the body. Eventually someone realized that it wasn't the kind of infected they were use to and said so. "What are you talking about, Elijah? That guy just looks… normal."

The doctor was done throwing up and walked over to the group of Fireflies. "He's-he's right." They all turned to him. That was the last thing they'd expect to hear from him. So condescending, so self-righteous. Here he was confirming that what a "fucking ingrate" said was correct. Dr. Westmore noticed the stares and got their meanings. "It's clear as day! If you can't see it then he's got more sensed than you all do." Another jab at their collective intelligence? This was the doctor they knew and really, really didn't like.

Marlene was next to see the bandit and grimaced at the sight. Elijah could see she wanted to be sickened and horrified just like the rest of them. But she wouldn't allow it from herself. _'No one'll fault you if you want to throw up. This shit is sick…'_ Elijah thought. He wasn't going to call her out like that. Instead she turned her head to the van and gestured towards it.

"Crafters, everyone who hasn't used the gas molotovs we have, I'm afraid we're going to need them." They all heard about the van's lack of gas and nodded at the order. They were all eager to get away from the bodies, the elementary school, and effectively, those crazy bandits. Marlene had offered Elijah her hand and helped him up to his feet. Kyren walked over as Marlene headed to the van.

"You gonna be okay, Elijah?" he asked him.

"The sooner we get the hell away from here, yes."

"Yeah…" Kyren walked over to join the others draining whatever gasoline they had to offer into the van.

'_Did we even check it for keys?' _Elijah's eyes widened. He sped-walk over to the front seat of the moving van and reached for the handle. It opened when he pulled and he started to reach for the ignition and was absolutely relieved to hear the keys jingle and scrape against each other in his hand. He pulled it out and found Marlene adding to the molotovs.

"Here." He offered her the keys. "For the van", he said. Marlene must have been thinking the same as Elijah because she seemed to relax at the sight of the keys. While showing her the keys, he noticed how exhausted she looked. _'It's been a long morning, hasn't it?' _he asked himself.

"Good job. Maybe things are starting to turn around for us." Marlene took the keys and moved to the door and got inside. Minutes later, after worrying that there might been more to this stroke of good luck than just needing gas, the van burst to life, the engine. He heard a sigh from inside by the driver's side. Elijah smiled to himself before walking to the back of the van. He saw that everyone was making their way inside, most of them not to happy about having the back of a 17' moving van as an alternate to an entire school. Kyren saw Elijah walk towards him and asked "Hey, man. You getting in the back with everyone else or up front?"

"Where you headed?" Elijah asked him.

"It's probably for the best if there's more than just one driver, right? You still how to drive, right?" Kyren said, with a light chuckle.

"I think I got my license before you, pal." Elijah said, returning the joke.

"Not many drivers these days, man. You don't even need to stay in your lane!"

"And that's how you got your first license suspended, isn't it?"

"Oh, alright. Yeah, you comin' up front, since you're talking all that game." Kyren said.

"Alright, Andretti. Let's go."

"Who?" his friend asked.

Elijah sighed while making to the front. "Never mind. Just hurry up."

As the last Firefly made their way into the back, Kyren slid the back shut and moved quickly to reach the front. He saw Elijah waiting for him with the door open. Kyren rolled his eyes.

"Elijah, she's not going to kill you, man." He whispered to him.

"You don't know that…" Elijah said.

"Look, I get it. I've been a Firefly longer than you, so you think that makes me and her like besties or somethin' like that. We've all gotten to know each other over the past year. Shit, might as well be family now."

"That's nice brother, really it is, but-"

"Get in the damn van, Elijah."

"I hate the middle though", he said whispering as he got inside. Kyren climbed in after him and closed the passenger door. Marlene had her head back with her eyes closed. She opened them when she heard the door close. "Ready?" Marlene asked the two of them.

"Yes, ma'am." Kyren nudged Elijah.

"We're ready, Marlene." Kyren said.

"Great." She put the van in gear and turned the wheel to the right. As they made their way slowly to avoid drawing any attention to themselves, the Fireflies heard gunfire ring out from the distance. Elijah and Kyren both grimaced at what it implied. Marlene just sighed.  
>"We're on our way. Don't worry, you two."<p>

For the rest of the ride, it was silent throughout the entire van.

**A/N: More and more words are being added to the chapters. At this rate, we'll be in the hundred-thousands. I wanted to thank you all for being around for the third chapter in 'The 12 Weeks War' and just, giving it a chance in general. I'm having a great time doing this. It's all that's keeping me sane as my winter break approaches an end. *sigh* Damn, man.**


	4. Long Night Ahead

Chapter 4- Long Night Ahead

**09/30/16, 7:47 pm…**

_**Three days before the fight began…**_

As the support crafter put the finishing touches on his recent journal entry, he heard his friend, Kyren laugh as quiet as possible. He turned from his journal to face him.

"What is it?" Elijah asked, smiling already to hear whatever joke Kyren had planned.

Kyren just shook his head. "Damn, man. How can you not hear that sound? It's coming from right next to you."

Elijah turned to his right and found the source of the sound.

Marlene.

She had her head rested against the window, her yellow hood up to shield whatever light that would've bothered her. _'The most peaceful I've seen her in a long time… if only she sounded just as peaceful.'_

"That sound means she's no longer with us on this plane of existence, man."

"Aw, now that's mean."

"But still, it's your time to drive, especially since it looks like you're done with today's diary entry."

"Cute." Elijah interrupted him.

"Mind taking over for awhile so I too may go on to a higher existence?" Kyren asked.

"Oh, but of course, bro." Elijah paused. "But, I don't think I'll be able to beat your high score of hitting random crap in the road. I swear, you might've killed someone in the back."

"Hey! That's not fair. That damn squirrel was asking to be hit." Kyren defended himself, while sliding out the left door for Elijah.

"It was asking whatever cruel squirrel Pantheon that exists for forgiveness, you monster." Elijah said climbing out of the door. He waited for Kyren to get in the van, but he was busying scanning their surroundings.

"Uh, Kyren?" Elijah began.

"Hold up, Eli. You think this place is safe enough to just take a breather for a while?" Kyren asked him.

Elijah turned his back to him and began to look around. _'Well…' _he started to think but was interrupted by Kyren.

"Go on. Do that thing you do." Kyren urged.

"What 'thing'?" he asked him.

"You know, that thing were you take hour upon hour to decide your next course of action. Every time you get asked a question, it's kind of your signature."

"Normally, I'm being asked questions about our next course of action while being SHOT AT." Elijah emphasized.

"It's your fault for being so shootable…" he mumbled back.

"How-?" Elijah rolled his eyes _again _and focused on the more important part of their situation. _'Okay, let's see.' _Elijah looked around the area and noticed three buildings that stood out the most in the moon's light.

_'North Idaho College… Washington Trust Bank… and a building that looks like it's collapsing from the inside. Hmm. Those two look in good enough condition. But those windows might be a problem. They definitely won't provide enough cover if we were to run into any Hunters around here. And I don't think anyone would want to spend time anywhere near a building that's falling apart.' _He came up with a plan.

"Uh, has the unit in front of me reached consensus?" Kyren asked in a robotic tone.

"Yeah, this unit did. I'm thinking we should wake up Marlene. Let her know that we all need a moment to rest, maybe let the van's engine cool down."

"All I needed to hear." Kyren said while walking to the back of the moving van. A few moments later and Fireflies began to pour out from the back.

"Oh God…" one of them exclaimed. "I can feel my legs again!" said one of them. A few others rose in a chorus to show their agreement.

"Alright!" he cleared his throat. "'Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears'!" Kyren began. Elijah was getting tired of rolling his eyes. "As I'm sure you've heard, Marlene is still unconscious." A few faked a coughing fit to hide their smiles. "Yes, yes" he continued. "So, our new acting leader, Elijah Quinn, decided that we'll be out here for only two hours."

Elijah's eyes widened. "I didn't-" he began.

"'Tis truly a shame, mates. Alas, we'll only be out for two hours before returning to that horrid van."

"At least you two get to sit up front!" they heard someone exclaim from the middle of the group.

"Please, Kyren, stop talking", Elijah said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Sir, yes, sir. Fireflies, fly free, go stretch or something like that. Remember, we'll only be out for so long. Now, please pay your respects to our new leader." Kyren lightly bowed in Elijah's direction. _'Maybe if I just start choking him instead of rolling my eyes so often he'll stop saying some crazy shit…'_ he thought to himself.

"We understand the orders given to us, 'sir'" fellow crafter Sarah had said to him in a mock sad tone.

"Will y'all go somewhere now?" Elijah said with a light grin.

One by one, the Fireflies began to salute him. Inside the group, he heard someone manage to whistle a four-note theme he remembered to have something to do with the _Hunger Games_. _'Really?' _Elijah looked over at Kyren. He just shrugged back. They all began to walk away from the van and started separating into their normal chat groups. That reminded Elijah of his plan.

"Actually, wait." They turned to him. He spoke with ease in front of them. "There's three…" he paused and looked at the destroyed building. "…two and a half different buildings around here. Maybe we should take the time to check them out? Last I checked, we need something to make the Molotovs, you know, explode." Elijah said referencing the events of yesterday. They all seemed to consider this. Then they divided themselves into groups of seven and walking to the separate buildings.

"Ha ha! That's nice! The support crafter's takin' over!" Kyren paused. "It might just be a bad thing if I were to wake up Marlene and let her know a crafter remove her from the throne, huh?

"No, no. Please, don't strain yourself. I'll take care of it." Elijah replied.

"Oh great. Any orders for me, sir?"

Elijah considered this. Then he said, "Why don't you wake the 'good doctor' for us, yeah?" he asked him.

"Oh, I see how it is. A little taste of power and you send your friend off to face a damn demon." Kyren said before walking off. Elijah watched him peer into the back of the van. He looked up and made a gesture that said the doctor was sleeping.

"Wake him up, then." Elijah said.

Kyren made a thumbs-up gesture and walked in. A moment later and the doctor rushed out. "Ah, the night air. Feels nice and crisp!" Sleeping in the back of a van made his hair even worse. It covered his eyes so much he nearly tripped over a rock.

"That's nice, doc." Kyren said, walking away to join two others waiting for him. The three of them walked off to join a larger group inside the WT bank. The doctor followed close behind.

Elijah turned to face the van and climbed in. Marlene wasn't so much in her sleep like she was before. He considered this the perfect time to wake her. Closing his door, he turned to wake her.

"Uh, Marlene? Ma'am?" he called her name but she didn't wake. He reached over and tapped her on the shoulder. This time, she did respond. She seemed startled. Turning to face Elijah, she wiped her forehead like it was sweaty. _'Like she was having a bad dream.' _Elijah thought.

"Are you alright, Marlene?" he asked her.

"I-I'm fine. Where are we?" she asked, clearing her voice.

"Still in Idaho. A place called Sandpoint." Elijah replied.

Marlene looked out the window. "What time is it? Why did we stop?" she asked with much authority than necessary in his opinion.

"Well, ma'am, it's… **8:07**. And we stopped because… the others, we all needed to get out of the moving van. Just to stretch our legs and not being in the back of a moving van, you know?" he tried for a joke, but she didn't seem to notice.

"I see… how long was it planned for us to be here?"

"Not long, ma'am. An hour, tops. Just to make sure we've checked everywhere in the buildings and got what we needed."

Marlene rubbed her eyes and leaned forward close to the dashboard.

"Uh, sorry, ma'am for waking you. I didn't mean to keep you up."

"Oh, stop with the formalities, Elijah. Have you heard anyone else calling me 'ma'am'?" He opened his mouth to speak but Marlene waved him off. "Anyway, you did good, getting me up. I need to stretch my legs too." She pushed the passenger door open, grabbed her backpack from her legs and climbed out. Last thing he heard from her was "Head Start Center sounds like good place to start."

Elijah nodded his head. "Indeed it is, Marlene…" He watched her walk off for a moment, then climbed out of the van himself, closing the door, and looking around.

_'Okay, Firefly… where we headed?'_ he asked himself. _'Kyren and the others can handle the bank. Marlene's going to have help at the HS. Hmm… I think I saw Sarah and few others head to that college.' _Elijah's mind was set.

Walking down the sidewalk to the college, Elijah remembered his own time at his college down in Louisiana. _'LSU! Ah, man. Those were the times… hanging out with my friends. Getting that major in some American History…' _He stopped walking when he reached the sidewalk and saw a massive dried bloodstain on the ground, almost glowing in the night.

_'Not seeing blood out of someone' body so often… think I miss that the most.' _Elijah thought. He stepped onto the bloodied sidewalk and ignored the chill that went through his body.

Upon reaching the front of the college, Elijah abandoned the sidewalk for the green grass. He couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding as he approached the front door, it's mosaic glass glimmering in the night's light. Walking closer to it, he saw a Firefly out posted in the door's front, looking particularly crestfallen. _'That would be…' _he strained his eyes against the dark. _'Tommy. I wonder what's up with him.' _Elijah asked himself, while walking to the entrance mini-steps.

"Hey, Tommy. You alright?" Elijah thought for a second. "I, uh, didn't think guard was that bad, man", he tried for a joke.

Tommy looked up at him, surprise in his eyes. He quickly straightened up. "Oh, hey Elijah. What brings you over?" he asked him.

"Nothin' much, man. Just coming over to see how everything's going on the inside. Somethin' the matter? Not being very 'guard-like'." Elijah replied in a light tone, hoping to lighten things up. Tommy took it more serious than intended.

He reached over for his rifle and returned to his post. In the process of moving so fast his dark grey beanie fell off his head revealing tousled dirty blonde hair. He sighed, leaned over to pick it up and placed it back on him.

"Sorry, I was just… I wasn't focusin'. Won't happen again", he said quietly. Elijah couldn't hide the concerned look on his face. The rifle-bearing Firefly turned his head away.

"It wasn't that bad. I'm over here to see if any extra help's required." Elijah said, dropping the former subject. Tommy seemed to appreciate it.

"I haven't heard them asking for any extra help. I thought it'd be best if someone were to stay outside. Make sure nothin' creeps up on 'em."

Elijah nodded and turned backwards to lean on the stone foundation the college. "Hear anything out here?" he asked him.

Tommy shook his head. "Nah, no one. It's been pretty damn quiet out here."

It was quiet for a few moments. Elijah was about to walk in to not bother him anymore when he heard him say, "It's nice out, isn't it?" Elijah looked up and saw an array of stars lining the sky, a cool breeze gently floating by. "Sure is", he replied. "It's nice enough to know we haven't been troubled by anymore unnecessary surprises."

"Now you've jinxed us", Tommy said. Elijah let out a laugh.

"Well, damn. First day as acting leader and I've doomed us all."

"Heh, yeah." He heard him say.

It was quiet again. Tired of looking at the bright stars, he turned his direction forward and scanned ahead.

_'One tree, two trees, three trees… small building that has a house-like roof. Wait…'_. Elijah leaned forward. There it was. A house hidden down the right side of the crosswalk. Elijah looked over at Tommy who was had returned to his sullen demeanor. He looked at him skeptically.

"Hey, Tommy." He looked up at Elijah. "I could use some help over here." Tommy walked over to him.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Look down there. See that house?"

"Yeah, barely. What, thinkin' we could spend a night over there?" Tommy said in an excited manner. "I'm just not too excited with being in the back of that moving van."

"I hear you. Doesn't seem too fun." Elijah paused, then looked at the house with more determination. "If we take care of searching it, making sure there aren't any nasty surprises, we could possibly convince Marlene to let us relax in a place with a lot more space. It might take a while and we might actually find something bad." He looked over at Tommy. "You think you and I could handle searching that house?"

Tommy looked at the front entrance then down at his feet.

"We'd only be gone for few minutes at the very least." Elijah said, trying not to push him too much to go.

"Let's get on with it, then." Tommy said, gesturing to the house with his rifle. "Standin' here wasn't too much fun anyway."

"Sounds like a plan." Elijah said before walking down the steps and headed down to the right of the sidewalk with Tommy close behind.

He noticed the silence between the two of them and was not enjoying it.

At all.

Elijah considered this to be a growing experience. As far as he could remember, on this whole journey of theirs, Tommy's been… the quiet one. He would take orders and fulfil them to the best of his abilities, help with setting up camp, scavenge for supplies, but as far as enjoying the moments of serenity when they had a chance to stop and relax for a moment, he was closed off. Elijah thought it was maybe he just didn't like large groups of people. But after being together as a group for over a year, there should've been some… _breakthrough._

Elijah looked over at his ally and saw that his gaze was transfixed at the house quickly approaching their left. He definitely didn't look to be in the mood to talk.

_'Looks like I'm stuck talking to myself. Again.' _Elijah thought. To himself.

_'We just need to get this over with quickly.' _He looked at his watch. _'**8:23**? Hopefully the others are on some kind of breakthrough and they'll be done in at least a few more minutes. I'm even more hopeful that we'll be done before them before they possibly start to freak out and go on the warpath trying to hunt us down.' _Elijah smiled to himself. After all they been through together on this 'adventure', they've all gotten close, as anyone would being with others and getting to know them for so long. He knew that they'd all fight and die for each other.

Just like he would for them.

Reaching the end of the sidewalk, Elijah took a moment to look down the right side of the sidewalk. What he saw was the back of the college and an empty parking lot. _'Hmm… I bet if we entered through there we'd give Sarah and the others a real good scare.' _Then he reconsidered that idea. _'On second thought, Sarah kind of has an itchy trigger finger. And not the best aim to match… Maybe we'd have a better chance of living if we stick with the front door.' _

He turned back to the house's direction and noticed how Tommy was already on the front lawn.

"Oh, come on…" he said to himself. Elijah looked over to the trees and bushes on his right, possibly covering what he thought was the woods. As he made his way, he could've sworn he heard a twig _snap_ in the bushes. Feeling his skin chill, he didn't even stop to check it out._ 'That's right, Elijah. Just stick with the guidelines stereotypes have set for you. Keep it moving.' _He thought, in an attempt to keep himself calm. He jogged over to the house, just in time to see Tommy set his rifle down and examine the door.

Stepping on the grass, Elijah looked down and noticed a row of houses, just as lifeless as the one he and Tommy were about to try and break into.

_'It's not breaking and entering if no one's used it in a long-ass time. Right?' _Elijah asked himself. He considered asking Tommy but settled on looking around at the other houses. He moved over to the house next door and checked the door out. It had numerous scratches on its front. The scratches became more prominent and gruesome looking as he looked further down. Eventually, it looked like blood was caked within the lower scratches and had pooled to the ground a long time ago. Elijah stepped away from the door and promptly walked back to Tommy deciding for the two of them that they're not going any near that house. He reached him just in time to see him attempt to bash the door down in frustration.

"Hey! The hell, man?" he asked him. Tommy turned to face him with a certain look in his eyes. A look that showed how impatient he was with their progress.

"We ain't got time to fuck around with this door! The plan was get in, get out, and tell the others what we found. Now, quit botherin' me, I'm tryna work. Is that alright with you, '_acting leader_'?" Tommy asked annoyed. They locked eyes with each other. Elijah was about to answer but Tommy waved him off and turned back. Elijah took a deep exhale and shook his head.

"Fine, you prick. But tell me: did you even try the fuckin' doorknob?" he bit back at him. Tommy turned back to reply, maybe something equally rude but didn't. Instead, he actually tried to open the doorknob. Nothing happened. He fumbled with it a bit, but no matter how much force he applied, the door wouldn't open up.

Elijah heard him scoff. "Well, how 'bout that", he whispered quietly. He rose up and put both his hands on the door, leaning on it for support. Elijah could only stare at him.

_'Goddamn, what's his problem? Won't even talk to us, but I'm here trying to get him more invested with the group, but fuckin' nothing. Fine.' _Elijah thought bitterly.

"Move over", he said to Tommy. The Firefly turned to the support crafter and looked over at him. Whatever he was thinking, he just moved out of Elijah's way, annoyed.

"Alright, that's it. The fuck's your problem? And don't give me any of that 'I'm tryna work' bullshit!" Tommy looked back once then kept walking.

"Do whatever you need to do. I'm about to head to a different house. If it don't open, I'm done." Elijah almost didn't want to mention the bloodied door right next to him but did so regardless. Tommy didn't care, however. He just went down to examine that door. Elijah noticed that he didn't try to break it down however. At least, not until he tried the doorknob.

Elijah turned his attention to the door in front of him. _'Come on, you son of a bitch. Think. What could you do that wouldn't cause so much fuckin' noise?' _He sighed and put one hand on his hips, the other massaged the bridge of his nose. Absentmindedly, he reached in his pocket and pulled out a sharp object he scraped his hand on lightly: a shiv. He looked it over. It's jagged grey edges, wrapped in duct tape. _'Why do I have you again? I sure as hell haven't had to shank anyone yet.' _He leaned on the door and sighed again. Shiv still in hand, and using his head to keep himself leaned against the door, Elijah twisted the doorknob as hard as he could, getting absolutely nowhere. For some reason, the doorknob kept slipping between his hands, making it impossible to open. He sure didn't want to force it open. _'Damn it! Just open already!' _he thought, getting angry himself. Elijah just jammed the shiv into the keyhole with his left hand. Hearing a _click _sound, he began to worry.

"No, no, no, fuck…" he whispered. He looked over to Tommy and didn't see him get any farther on his door. He turned back to the situation on his hands. _'Well, this door sure's fucked…' _He tried to pull the shiv out of the doorknob but found that it was stuck. _'Nah, motherfucker. I want this back. Hand it over. Quit being a bitch, door.' _Elijah grabbed it firmly in his left hand and tried to twist it free. All he heard was the sound of the locking mechanism breaking, along with his shiv and pulled back a stubbed piece of metal.

_'Really, door? You had one job: quit being a bitch. Then, you break my only shiv. I wasn't going to use it to stab someone to death but still! Come on, dammit!' _he gave up on being subtle.

As soon as he twisted the doorknob and heard it _click_ he realized how pointless it was for him to slam into it with his shoulder.

The door had swung open and clacked against the wall. Elijah looked at the open entry, then the broken shiv. Then he smiled.

"Ha, ha, ha! Elijah, you the fuckin' man!" Elijah nearly exclaimed with excitement. Tommy definitely overheard him and rushed over to see the work done. Elijah was sure he actually saw the traces of a smile on his face.

"Elijah… you smart son of a bitch", he heard him whisper. "What'd you do, man?" Tommy asked him, now actually smiling.

"Take a shiv to the doorknob, and the door just opens afterwards. It wasn't much, but I think I deserve some praise. Since I did it by myself, you know?" Elijah crossed his arms and stared at Tommy pointedly.

"Heh, alright, alright. I, uh, shouldn't have walked off like that. I'm sorry", he heard Tommy say in mock sadness. It was as close to an apology he expected to get.

"Yeah, it was a bit of a surprise. Can't believe it fuckin' worked…" Elijah whispered the last part to himself. _'This is a moment to remember. Who knows what sort of life-saving equipment we might find in there? Maybe a pack of white-cheddar popcorn. Love that shit…' _he thought.

"We should probably head in, huh?" he heard Tommy say.

"Probably", he replied. Tommy thought for a moment.

"Actually, we need to be smart about this. One of us should stay guard."

"And who do you think that might be?" Elijah asked him.

"Well, I do have the rifle…"

"Oh, hell no. Do you see how dark it is in there?"

"Uh, so? You have a flashlight, I don't!"

"So what? Flashlights won't exactly help me see spores, will they?"

"Oh, God, really? Is that what you're worried about? Do you see how small this house is? That window over there's busted from a weak patch-job. Any life-altering dust would've seeped on out."

Elijah crossed his arms again and clicked his tongue. "I think it's time for you to put some work into this little 'group effort'."

"I loosened this door for you!"

"Yes, because ramming into the door with your shoulder was a good way to help. Just remember who got the damn thing open…"

"Alright, damn it. Fine! I'm going in first. When I don't get infected or get jumped by anything, you get your ass in here too, and then we'll both search the place and get the hell out of here faster. I'm getting' real tired of this night." Tommy said, rolling his eyes and facing the door.

"After you, good sir." Elijah said, bowing slightly.

Tommy actually hesitated, like he was considering the possibility of something bad happening. Then, he steeled his gaze and stepped slowly in. As soon as he stepped foot inside, he tripped over something.

Looking down, it was rope.

"Oh, fu-", Tommy managed before something slammed into him, knocking him down and scattering his hunting rifle away. Elijah quickly pulled out in pistol and took aim at whatever was on Tommy, but stopped when all he heard was his companion's struggling. No snarls, no growling. Just Tommy's frantic voice.

"Ah, no, no! Elijah, get it off of me!" he shouted. Elijah just raised an eyebrow and shushed him. Pulling his flashlight from his backpack's side pocket. He clicked it on and flashed the dull and dusty object on Tommy.

"Wow…" he whispered. A set of chairs and a couch had knocked Tommy down. Not a Hunter or some Runner. Just some furniture. Elijah burst out laughing.

"Damn, Tommy. I don't think you have to worry about the-". Elijah was taken with laughter and couldn't finish talking. Tommy put the pieces together anyway.

"A couch? A fuckin'… fuckin' couch?" Elijah heard him a cough for a few seconds. Then he was silent. Next, he heard Tommy laugh along with him.

"Heheh… get this damn thing off of me", Tommy said, a smile that was being covered up by the couch's armrest. Elijah obliged and Tommy slowly got to his feet, chuckling and wiping his clothes clean of the dust. He and Elijah enjoyed a few more seconds laughing at what happened and shook their heads. Tommy cleared his throat and spoke clearly.

"Someone set this up."

"Because of the rope, right? Shit, man. Think they're still around?" Elijah asked, aware that his 9mm was in his hand. Tommy shook his head, however. He leaned down and picked up the rope.

"See this? How torn and moldy it looks? It's been set up a while ago." Tommy said assuaging their fears.

"Hopefully, no one heard you with all that damn yellin' you were doing a second ago."

"I'm sorry my justifiable terror inconvenienced you, buddy. But, uh, where the hell were you with a warning?" Tommy said, completely out of the hostile mood he was in before the couch fell on him.

"Don't put this on me, man. I didn't see the thing either. I was worried someone was going to a pull a gun on us and shoot at us."

"I'll be honest", Tommy said, looking around. "I think this is a safe sp-".

A bullet pierced the wooden doorframe.

A bullet just flew right between them.

"TAKE 'EM OUT!" they heard someone shout. A couple dozen, around the same number of Fireflies that were scattered around the three buildings had rushed out of the bushes and began to spread out.

**They were being watched the entire time.**

All Elijah and Tommy could do was watch in horror as what looked like Hunters flooded the area. One of the Hunters had seen one of them and was rushing over, a shotgun in hands. They looked between each other and ran inside the house. Tommy slammed the door shut with his back against it.

"Open up, motherfuckers! Time for you fucks to get out of our territory!" a loud voice shouted while pounding away at the door.

"Fuck…" Tommy whispered. Elijah was speechless. They were being attacked. And their group was splintered, separated into smaller groups, possibly unaware at the fight waiting for them outside.

"Alright, bitches. I got somethin' for you…" he heard the Hunter attacking them whisper. The two Fireflies heard a gun click and they went still. Then the first shot went right between Tommy's legs. He and Elijah rushed past each other and went to move around a corner, into what looked like a kitchen to Elijah. He made it first, but after another gunshot, he heard Tommy fall over and yelp in pain.

"I'm hit!" he shouted to Elijah.

"On the second try? You've gotten better, Eugene. Keep it up and you'll make the team for sure!" While Elijah pulled Tommy into the kitchen, he heard 'Eugene' laugh with excitement.

_'Fucking maniac!' _Elijah thought angrily. Tommy's grunts of pain pulled him to reality. His right pants leg was bloody. Tommy looked like he was about to throw up.

"Hey, hey, hey! Stay with me. It's a leg wound. Nobody dies from leg wounds, Tommy. Don't be the first!" Elijah was desperate, grasping for anything to calm him down. Tommy had giggled for a moment at that. _'And don't go into shock either. That'd make this even worse…' _Elijah thoughts began to run rapidly. He needed something to stop this leg from continuously bleeding. After slamming the kitchen door shut, he stepped from the downed Firefly, blood all over his hands and began to tear the drawers from their holders. _'Alcohol, something like that. Anything! Come the fuck on!' _he shouted inwardly. He began to pry open a few cupboards and was disheartened to hear the front door slam onto the group.

_'Shit!' _he thought.

"Where art thou sons of bitches…" he heard Eugene hum. Elijah looked at a dazed Tommy.

_'Shit…' _he thought.

"Elijah… run. Just… just leave me. F-find… S-sarah… keep her safe, man." Elijah was confused at the statement. He didn't know what to think. He shook his head in disagreement.

"Tommy, shut the fuck up. I've got a plan. Just pretend to be dead. Emphasize on pretend." Tommy nodded weakly.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. I'll just pretend to die and take a nice… little… nap." He watched him close his eyes and fall over. Elijah's eyes widened.

"Tommy, you better be fuckin' pretending…" he whispered. He heard him mumble "…go away" before staying silent.

"What's behind door #1?" Elijah quickly scrambled behind the door as quietly as possible. He happened to notice a bottle near him and threw it near the ground by Tommy, hoping something not bad would come from it.

"Oooh… here comes a Wraith." Elijah heard the Hunter whisper. The door was kicked open, narrowly missing the support crafter's face. Luckily for him, it was the kind of door that locked itself in place once open. He heard footsteps approach an unconscious Tommy.

"Really, man? A leg wound? Who dies from that shit? I swear, all you Fireflies are just fuckin' idoits. All thinkin' you're so damn special 'cause you want to waste time tryin' fix this world? No wonder we tracked you so easy…" Elijah's heart dropped.

"I don't know why the Marauders don't just rip you all from this existence." He heard him scoff, then walk off farther down the hall.

_'We've been followed this entire time? Son of a bitch! And Marauders? Who are the fuckin' Marauders?' _Elijah looked over at Tommy who was still breathing, even though it was a slightly sluggish one.

"I need some fucking answers, Tommy…" he whispered to his unconscious friend.

"I will get them. And I'll get something for you too while I'm at it." Elijah slowly nudged the door closed and stood up to find anything quiet he could use. On the ground, by a drawer he tossed aside frantically was a pair of broken scissors. _'It's a start…' _Elijah thought. He slid his backpack off and unzipped it slowly as to not alert the Hunter. Finding an almost empty roll of tape he grabbed it and stared at the scissor blade in his other hand.

Then, he did what he what he's been doing for the others the entire time they were out on their own.

He crafted himself a decent shiv. Wrapping the rest of the binding around the handle to make it more 'straighter' in his opinion, he jabbed the air a few times to test its strength. _'It hasn't broken apart in my hands. Good enough for me'_, he thought.

Taking one more look at Tommy's fading breaths, he said. "I'll be back to help you out of here. The others will be fine." Elijah crouched down and opened the kitchen door and slid out. On his left, the night air had broken into the house adding to the already ominous tone of the situation. On his right, the Hunter was loudly scavenging through the bathroom. He seemed particularly excited about one find, holding it up, admiring it through a window filled with moonlight. Elijah couldn't see it, and he didn't care. He did care about the fact he heard the Hunter excitedly remove his backpack and unzip it, keeping whatever he found.

"The boys'll be real jealous…" Elijah heard him say. _'This motherfucker…'_

Elijah returned to focus gearing himself up to kill a man.

_'It needs to be done, Elijah… It has to be done.' _He took a silent step forward. _'Maybe don't kill him, scare him a bit, rough him up.' _Another step. _'Do what you need to do to get some answers from this fuckin' prick…' _Another step. Elijah froze in terror when the Hunter had crossed into his field of view and stopped walking with his back turned to him. From the sounds of it, he was checking under the sink for supplies. The Hunter mumbled something Elijah couldn't hear. He counted three heartbeats before taking another step.

Of course, the board creaked beneath him.

The Hunter turned his way, a revolver in hand and a malicious smile on his round, darkly-shaded bearded face.

"Hi, how are ya'?" the Hunter asked.

Elijah asked himself a question while he charged Eugene.

_'What the fuck am I doing?' _he wondered as he stabbed with the shiv, aiming for his abdomen. Instead, the Hunter sidestepped and knocked the shiv out of his hands with his revolver. Then he hit the Firefly in the face with his gun.

"Motherfucker…" Elijah whispered. The Hunter caught that. He just laughed out loud.

"Hahaha! Fuckin' Fireflies, man…. I'd go on to insult your low intelligence, but I get the feeling you heard me make fun of your friend. Sorry you had to see me kill him." Eugen said, not at all sad.

Elijah had enough. He reached at his holster and took aim with his pistol. He pulled the gun's hammer to better show his rage.

"Oh, oh, oh…" Eugene chuckled. "You can barely hold that gun up. Have you ever shot that thing before?"

Elijah felt his eyes sting. _'Mouth's bleeding. Tastes disgusting…' _He wasn't wrong. His mouth was hit with enough force that he bit down on the old scar on his bottom lip accidently. He spat out some blood and slowly stood up, the gun aimed at the Hunter's head.

"Awww… is the little baby gonna cry? Do you want a hug, little boy?" Eugene cooed at him, mockingly.

"One more… fuckin' word… and I will end you." Elijah whispered angrily. His eyes were red now, partly from the unexpected hit, but mostly from intense hatred.

_'If this bastard keeps toying with me, I swear to God…' _They stared at each other for a moment, both of them unblinking.

Then the Hunter charged him.

Elijah fired the gun twice.

Only one bullet hit.

As the Hunter charged him and knocked him over, a bullet lodged itself in his shoulder.

"Son of a bitch!" he hollered before running out the door.

Elijah was completely dazed. _'Did that… did I shoot him?' _Sure enough, Elijah felt something warm on his face. Reaching his left hand to touch it, he saw it was blood drops.

"Ugh…" Elijah groaned. He did the best he could wiping the blood off his face and turned to look out the door. No sight of Eugene.

But plenty of gunfire was heard.

"No, fuck!" Elijah yelled. He turned back and headed into the kitchen. Tommy had woken up and was looking around, not looking much better than Elijah felt.

"H-hey, man. You're still here? I heard what happened out there… are you okay?" he heard him ask. Elijah looked puzzled.

"Why the fuck wouldn't I be?" Elijah looked down at him. "We're a team, Tommy. The fuckin' Fireflies. Out here, we take care of our own." Elijah said with quiet rage. He chided himself for not killing that man back in the hallway. Who knows how deep his influence runs? Elijah wondered to himself if had he killed him, would that have sent the Hunters into a full-retreat?

Tommy was staring at Elijah intently. Possibly considering his words. Finally, he spoke.

"Elijah, don't worry about that prick. He's a nobody." Tommy said, a cross between weakened, yet confident.

"Just… how can you tell?" Elijah asked, unconvinced.

"You really think they'd let their leader go off by himself while attacking a group of F… Fireflies? 'Cause I ain't seein' it like that. At best, that dumb fuck was tryin' to show off. Look good for the ladies, maybe." Tommy finished with a light laugh, one that ended with a cough. Elijah looked down and remembered the most immediate problem at hand.

Elijah looked up. "Tommy, wait here real quick. I think I might have somethin' for that leg." Elijah said, before walking back to the bathroom.

"I ain't goin' nowhere…" he heard him mumble.

Clicking his flashlight back on, Elijah searched the floor for the Hunter's backpack.

_'There!' _Elijah shouted in his mind. Tearing the bag open, he threw out whatever he considered unimportant. Which was a lot of the things the Hunter had on him.

_'An empty bag of chips, reading magazines. Very "graphic", reading magazines. Shell casings… an unfired shotgun shell? Mine.' _His sense of touch was doing better than his sight. Even with the flashlight on, which was now blinking rapidly as though it was about to turn off, Elijah could barely see. His felt a piece of cloth. Taking it out, he held it in front of his flashlight and saw a dingy, white washcloth in his hands. _'Not a bandage but fuck, it'll do until I get him to one of the medics.' _He placed it next to him. Searching again, he heard his watch _clank _against something.

Pulling it out, he saw it was a partially empty bottle of a clear liquid. He opened the cap and was relieved at the antiseptic smell.

_'Yes! Fuck yes!' _Elijah thought excitedly. _'Drench the fuck out of this towel with alcohol, wrap it on his leg. Bam! Instant patch job.' _Elijah thought. Before he was able to finish running out of the door, he heard something fall out. Looking back, it appeared to be some sort of large firearm.

_'The dude's shotgun? Fuckin' mine.' _He said to himself. As he reached over to pick it up, his eyes narrowed at what was on the shotgun. On the handle, it looked like female undergarments on it. Elijah felt sick looking at it. _'Sick bastard. That's what he was so excited about, wasn't it?' _He picked them up and threw it off into the bathtub.

_'This night, man. We never should've came here! Damn it!' _Elijah thought. He grabbed the shotgun and walked back to Tommy without a second look back.

Tommy and leaned his head against a sink door and was resting. When he didn't answer Elijah's numerous and increasingly frantic calls, he was slapped.

"Damn it, what?! I'm just trying to sleep here…" he heard him say, annoyed. Elijah just set the supplies he found down next to Tommy and went to work. He rolled up Tommy's right pants leg slowly, causing the Firefly to hiss in pain. Placing the pants leg behind his knee, Elijah had a clear view of the man's wound. It didn't look like it was very life-threatening, as long as Elijah removed the possibility of infection and got someone to bandage it. Still, it made him feel bad for his teammate.

"This is gonna burn. But, it won't for long. And just remember how necessary it is." Elijah said, trying to assuage any fears Tommy might've had.

"Just wrap the cloth on me so we can hurry up and leave. Daylight's burnin', man!" Tommy said, rushing him.

"It's still night."

"Really? I didn't- AAAH, fuck!" Tommy yelped at the contact of the alcohol drenched rag. His leg jerked and knocked it off his leg. Elijah looked at him.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm, uh, not use to this", he apologized.

"No, no… just, please hurry", Tommy said quietly. His eyes were closed now.

Elijah picked up the rag, now pinkish with blood, and reapplied it to the leg. Tommy's leg still moved, but not as much as before. He wrapped it behind his knee and slid the pants leg over it.

"Not exactly hospital standards…" he heard Tommy whisper.

"Yeah. Still, I don't think the leg is in that bad of shape. I probably wouldn't put too much weight on it."

Tommy sighed and moved up the sink counter slowly, much to Elijah's surprise and annoyance. He stood up shakily. "We need to go, right now", he said.

"Yeah. Got a long night ahead of us. I had a plan."

"What's that?"

"We try to sneak into the college. I'm sure at least one of the medics are with Sarah, if not both. They're kind of a team, the three of them."

"Hopefully both. Twice the attention to me. I know for a fact this… patch job of yours won't hold up if we need to haul ass."

"Support crafter. Did you hear anything like fuckin' field medic?" Elijah said. Tommy shrugged. He looked down at Elijah's feet.

"Is that a shotgun?" he asked incredulously. He had a reason to. Most of the Fireflies carried either hunting rifles or a Semi-Auto rifle. Maybe even the occasional assault rifle. They didn't have a surplus of widespread weapons.

"And it's mine, rifle-boy."

Tommy looked cross. "D'you even know how many shells it got left?" he asked pointedly.

"I found a shell on the floor in the bathroom. Maybe one or two in the chamber, I guess. I don't know." Elijah said exasperated.

"Fine, don't lose… ugh…" Tommy had fallen slightly, making Elijah rush to his side and catch him. He switched the shotgun to his right hand while his left arm was placed on Tommy's right shoulder, with Tommy's arm placed over Elijah's shoulder.

"Damn it, Tommy." Elijah whispered to himself. Watching his back and Tommy's might be a challenge to him. And if he could barely keep the two of them safe, he might not be help in a gunfight at the college.

_'Goddamn it, I'll have to try.' _Elijah told himself. He led the two of them to the front door.

"Elijah, man. I'm not in the best condition right now. Think you're ready for them? I mean, you can't just let 'em go every time. Gonna be a time when you'll have to, you know…"

"I know." Elijah paused. They were on their way to the college's parking lot now, on the sidewalk. "Why you telling me this like you've done more than I have? We're both in the same apocalypse."

Tommy fell silent. His weight seemed to get heavier on Elijah's shoulder. "Because, and I mean no offense to you… I have."

"Right…" Elijah whispered.

The welcome silence between the two was constantly interrupted by shouting and gunfire that made Elijah's heart hurt, but filled itself with determination.

_'No way we're lettin' these fucks bring us down.' _

**A/N: Longer than usual and kind of later than normal, I know. But _Let Me Explain! _I was working diligently on this story until disaster struck! My laptop gets fracture and now it looks worse than Miles' camcorder. Whatever. The show must go on, damn it!**

**Elijah and Tommy (_the _Tommy)'s rescue attempt (maybe more Elijah's) shall commence in chapter 5 of T12WW.**


	5. Restless Night

Chapter 5- Restless Night

**Parking lot of NI College, 8:50 night…**

The second time Tommy had passed out, was the second time Elijah nearly had a heart attack.

"Wake up, you son of a bitch…" Elijah demanded in a hushed tone. _'One more and I'll shoot you in the other leg. Maybe keep you up', _he thought bitterly.

"I'm up, I'm up!" Tommy shouted.

"Oh God, keep it down, damn it! We're sneaking, remember?"

"Quit yellin' in my ear then!" he whispered back angrily.

"I can't sneak with dead weight, Tommy. Fall out again and I'll leave your ass."

"Out here in the cold, vulnerable to Hunters? Could've left me at the house instead of dealing with this bullshit…." he heard him reply, quietly.

They had walked into the parking lot minutes ago, hearing gunfire from the two other buildings near them. Not a single one from the college in a while.

'_Why is that? Did they really take 'em down, no casualties on our side? I wonder if Sarah actually shot straight for once.' _The support crafter wanted to smile but couldn't, remembering his own trial by fire.

'_Maybe she actually killed one.' _He continued to think. _'Or maybe all the Fireflies inside are dead and the Hunters are waiting for more victims… just damn it all!' _Elijah just hoped that through all of this, all of them would come through. _'Kyren, Sarah, Marlene, Nathan, Jake, Barrett, Sandra, Kayla, all of them, damn it. If they don't…' _Elijah knew he would blame himself for not being there for whoever ended up dying, not being there to do something, anything to comfort them in their final moments.

"Elijah, can you hear me?" Tommy asked him.

He snapped his neck to face him. "What is it? Did you hear anything?" he asked worried.

"No, we're at the door. But, it's lookin'…" Tommy trailed off. Elijah looked at it for himself and decided, _'If that isn't a trap…' _Elijah mentally scoffed, scrutinizing the open door.

The door was wide open, as though inviting more Fireflies to kill or Hunters to aid to come in. Either way, Elijah and Tommy weren't Hunters.

And they sure as hell weren't going through that door.

"We tryin' the front door?" Tommy asked as he was directed by Elijah back throughout the gate.

"Fuckin' right. Tell me that didn't just scream 'I'm a trap. Come in here and get your head blown off.'" Elijah said, slowly walking out the gate.

"I guess you're right, but maybe we shoul-", Tommy was interrupted by someone's heavy panting and falling over to be able to finish. They looked over each other's shoulder with fear-widened eyes.

The man that had rushed out wasn't in the best of shape. It was clear he was injured, evident by the way he clutched his left arm in pain. The man looked over his shoulder wildly, gun in his hand. He scanned the parking lot until his hazel eyes fell on Elijah and Tommy.

And he broke out in a relieved smile.

"Oh thank God you two are safe!" one of the Firefly medics, Nathan, said to them. He ran over to them. Getting closer, he saw the wound on Tommy's leg and went to work immediately.

"Nathan, man! Am I glad to see you! Tommy's leg-", Elijah began.

"…has been worked over by a bullet. What did this?" he asked them.

"Uh, revolver, I think it was." Tommy mumbled out. Nathan didn't seem to hear him. He was too busy studying the wound.

"Which one of you two did this…?" Nathan was at a loss of words. Looking over his shoulder, Elijah saw what he was gesturing to and rolled his eyes.

"I'm. A. Crafter." Elijah enunciated the words. "I don't have the medical know-how for fixin' a wound. At least I stopped the blood from coming out, right?" he asked Nathan, hoping for some sort of reassurance.

"Barely, Elijah. This towel of yours is slipping off. Plus, you tied it too high up the leg."

"At least he stopped the blood flow. Barely, of course…." they heard Tommy say.

"Woah, you talk?" the medic asked, surprised.

"Barely." Elijah said, checking behind them. "And when he does, it's usually to aggravate the hell out of me." He looked down at Nathan to avoid the glare cast in his direction. "So, I assume the Hunters did that to you?" he asked, looking at the red welt and scratches on his arms. The medic nodded.

"Fuckin' Hunter snuck me. Had this… 2x4 piece of wood. Hurts more than that time I got punched back in Montana." Nathan paused to glare at Elijah pointedly.

"I couldn't see anything!"

"So your first impulse was to hit me after I called your name out?"

"You surprised me…"

"Guys! My leg."

"Sorry, your right." Nathan said, apologetic.

"Nate, what'd you see in there? How many after us? What happened to Sarah and the others?" Elijah asked quickly.

"They're fuckin' armed, Elijah. Double-barrel shotguns, machetes, I think one of them even had a fuckin' crossbow. This was planned. All of it. There's like twelve of them left inside. Was only six of us in there." He turned around when he heard Elijah's inhale. "Still is."

"Oh thank God…" he whispered.

"We'd split up and have been doing hit-and-runs. They got smart and tossed a smoke bomb. I was the only one, thankfully, who got the worst of it. One of them broke off from the group when I ran. That would be the guy-" Nathan continued.

"With the 2x4." Elijah concluded.

"Yeah, the guy with the 2x4. Me and him wrestled for a bit, fell down some stairs. He had hit his head on the metal railing, so I bolted. I just ran as fast as I could out of the door. Found you two. Luckily I did. This was a serious thing here, getting shot in the leg. Especially out here with little to none supplies." Elijah groaned as the medic pulled out of his backpack gauze bandages.

"You didn't find anything in there? That was the whole reason we stopped in this death trap!"

"I didn't mean to say we didn't find anything _worthwhile_. We found some ammo scattered around in some red toolboxes. Not sure how lucky we'll get with good ammunition getting left behind so often." Nathan said while he finished wrapping the bandage around Tommy's leg. Tommy sighed in relief.

"Oh man… that feels nice and cool."

"That should help you out for now. I'd suggest not putting weight on it but-"

"I already said so?" Elijah interrupted.

"But, you can't exactly stay out here in the cold, without any protection." Nathan continued.

"I got all I need ri-", he paused as he reached for the hunting rifle always on his backpack. Instead, he pulled back air. He swore.

"I left it back at that house… shit!" Tommy said.

"It's not that far. Go and get it. But when you get it, lock yourself inside the house so you can heal up." Elijah had said.

"What? No! I get my rifle, I fight with y'all." Elijah opened his mouth to speak but Tommy stopped him.

"I ain't stayin' out of this! They're gunnin' for me as much as you." Tommy said, believing he won.

Elijah wondered all the possibilities that could've came with sending away an extra gun hand, albeit a _wounded, limping_ extra gun hand. He looked over at Nathan who was lightly shaking his head in disagreement. Tommy noticed but was staring intently at Elijah, waiting for his move as "acting leader".

"Tommy, listen to me now. We don't need bullet-fodder. We need you alive, man. We're all gettin' through this, but I just need to know you'll be safe healing, HEALING", he emphasized when Tommy was about to reply. "…and not being used as target practice. Come on, just take one for the team and don't take one for the team." Elijah said finally. Tommy looked over at the college, then Elijah, then the house. Finally, he sighed.

"Take too long and I'm comin' back, wounded or not", he said, quietly before walking off.

"Any injured we find, we'll send your way so you won't be lonely!" Elijah called out. The support crafter and medic watched in silence as Tommy walked onto the lawn and wasn't seen anymore.

Nathan turned to Elijah. "That was… pretty good. I didn't expect him to go with that much struggle."

Elijah looked at where Tommy had walked to. "Of course he did. We're a team. And I'm acting leader, remember?" Elijah said. Nathan nodded, smiling.

"What's the plan, boss?" he asked him.

Elijah replied, "Go save our people, building by building, leave all these Hunters behind, and be on our way to Washington so we can save the damn world."

"A plan I can get behind", the medic said. He and Elijah walked together into the dark halls of North Idaho College, ready for a fight.

They were about to get one.

"Goddamn, it's dark in here." Elijah noted. The parking lot entrance led them to the back of a lobby. A huge statue was surrounded by a water fountain. To his surprise, it looked untouched. Strangely, not at all broken.

"See those stairs, Elijah? That's where I came from." Nathan whispered. Elijah looked at where he was pointing. It was hard to miss as it was one of the few things being illuminated by the moon's light. He could've sworn he saw blood splattered all over the metal railing.

"Think your friend's still over there?" the support crafter asked. He could barely see Nathan shake his head.

"I don't think so… they might've went back for him by now and got him. Still, I don't think I need to tell you to be careful."

"No, you don't", he replied, raising the shotgun in front of him. He still had that one shell in his pocket. Taking it out, he felt around for the chamber, coming up with nothing.

"Uh… so, this is embarrassing but… do you know how to load a shotgun?" he asked the medic. Elijah didn't need light to see the incredulous look on Nathan's face.

"Are you kidding me? How don't you know how to load that?"

"I've only had a pistol. And even then I've just used it, besides during practice."

"What do you mean you 'just used it'?" Nathan asked warily.

"The Hunter that wounded Tommy. I… I shot him." Elijah said, quietly.

"Oh, man. That couldn't've been easy…" he heard him whisper.

Elijah didn't want to mention how he didn't finish the job properly. "Anyway, he wasn't using his pack anymore, and the shotgun was just _there_…" he said, concluding.

"Hmm. I think that thing's a pump-action. Maybe try to grab the grip and just… pull it back? I don't know."

Elijah went for the grip and did as told. He struggled at first, not sure how much force needed to be used to open it, but after a while, it click opened and they both heard a shell fall to the floor. Elijah reached in his pocket and pulled out the shell, quickly loaded it into the shotgun and closed the chamber.

"I'm getting the feeling that's not it…" he heard Nathan say. Thinking, he realized he forgot the finishing touch.

He pulled the handgrip back again and cocked the shotgun. It seemed to have echoed out throughout the lobby.

"There we go…" Elijah whispered. _'Now we're cookin' with some fire.'_

"Nice, let those bastards know what's waitin' for them", Nathan said, impressed. "Hopefully, we find some of the others before they do."

"Yeah, we should pick up the pace." Elijah said, the shotgun aimed at the floor off to the right.

They walked in silence for a moment. Elijah was thinking about what could've been happening with everyone else at the other two buildings.

'_That one building's wrecked. Maybe there was a way for the group at that building to join the ones at that bank. Fight off the Hunter attackers and rush to the van, calmly waiting for the last of us to join them.' _Elijah shook his head and said to himself, "Wishful thinking."

"What?" Nathan asked him.

"Uh, nothing. I was just… holy shit." Elijah exclaimed.

"What is… oh my God!" Nathan joined in the shock.

In front of them, a Hunter, the Hunter that Elijah assumed was the one that attacked Nathan, was… mutilated.

The man's mouth was bloody and open, showing off a horrible sight. His tongue was missing.

"What the fuck is this?!" Nathan nearly shouted.

Elijah was shocked too, but he didn't want anyone to hear them. "Keep it down, man. I get it, I get it…"

"Do you not see this? And look at the wall, it's…" the medic continued frantically.

"I get it, Nathan. I see it…"

On the moonlit wall, a message was clear enough to see.

In dark red words, the words _THE MARAUDERS' _was painted. After staring at it for so long, Elijah gagged at the smell of faded paint, dust, and blood. The sight was sickening itself but the smell made it worse.

Elijah looked over at Nathan. He was so sick, so horrified, he couldn't speak anymore. Elijah looked up the stairs. Up there, his friends needed their help.

'_And damn it, they'll get it.' _Elijah thought, steeling his nerves. He took one last look at the horrific message, swallowed his fears for the moment, and turned to Nathan.

"Come on. We… we need to get away from this." Elijah said, figuring out what he could say to keep the medic calm. "This is just… somethin' to scare us. Make us weak. If we let this get to us, we'll be failing our friends in here. They need us now, Nathan. With these fuckin' maniacs up there with 'em, they won't be safe until every one of them are back in the van and we're all drivin' away. You get me?" Elijah asked, directing his brown eyes into Nathan's hazel ones. "We need to be strong, man. For them. Are you ready?" he asked. _'Well Elijah, are you? Big talk comin' from the guy that couldn't take down one Hunter dumb enough to rush him.' _

"Yeah, yeah… I can- I can do this." Elijah blinked. He had actually convinced Nathan to continue on?

'_Hot damn, can't believe that worked.' _Despite Elijah's feelings on that, he kept a brave face for his friend. "Now let's go. Just… don't uh, step in that." Elijah said, while walking up the stairs slowly.

It was a moment before he heard nervous steps behind him.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Elijah saw a row of doors, what he knew to be as dorm rooms. Some he saw were closed, others had bullet holes in them. Some were even scratched up completely.

'_Think that would result in a heavy fine and expulsion.' _Elijah thought, humorlessly. It was all he could do for himself so he wouldn't think about the scene right behind them.

"I ran down from over there." Nathan mentioned to Elijah. He saw him point down to the right of the hallway. Elijah looked over to his left. Down the left side there was what looked like an overturned office desk, carelessly placed in front of the hallway.

"Want to check out this side real quick? Might find something worthwhile." He leaned closer while straining his eyes to make sure.

"Yeah. Yeah, okay", he heard him whisper.

"Hmm…" Elijah said. "Nate, you seeing this?" he whispered behind him. Nathan walked over to him. He groaned in silent frustration.

"Damn it, no. I can't see anything." Nathan replied.

"I've got my flashlight. Maybe I could-" Elijah started.

"Do you think we should risk it? Who knows who's nearby?" the medic said. He was right. So far, they heard nothing but silence and the occasional wind pick up, then settle. All they felt was cold, their own heartbeats, and dread.

"I don't think we should just cross over it without making sure it's safe enough." Elijah suggested.

"I don't know…" he heard his friend say.

"It'll take two seconds." Elijah whispered, after reaching into his pocket and pulled out his flashlight, clicking it on. The light brightened the corridor for a moment before shutting itself off.

"Oh come on…" Elijah said to himself.

"Damn it, does it need batteries?" Nathan asked him.

"It had better not. I have those damn batteries with a 10 year guarantee in here. 10 years my ass, if this doesn't come back on." Elijah voiced his annoyance. He clicked the light on and off again. When that didn't work, he tried giving it a quick shake for a few seconds. The light illuminated the front for them again.

"Nice job, Elijah. But what do you see?" Nathan inquired.

Elijah looked at the desk in front of them. It was a light metallic grey, with white scratches all along the sides. The legs of the desk were broken off.

"Nothing implying anything good." Elijah said. He looked over the side of the desk and his eyes widened.

"Well, fuck", he sighed out. Nathan looked over too and saw it.

Between them and the other side of the desk was a drop a couple of feet down. Taking a risk and leaning over the desk, Elijah saw piles of wood and colorless carpet lining the ground beneath them in what looked like a basement of some sort. "Well, damn it, we ain't goin' this way." Elijah said, making the choice for them. "Who knows what's down there?" he said.

"Don't you think we should find out?" Nathan asked him. Elijah turned to him.

"No way, Nathan. One too many possibilities for my liking. There might be spores, there might be infected. There might even be an ambush set up down there for us. No way." Elijah said, concluding the conversation. He turned around headed back to the staircase.

"Alright, alright." Nathan said, giving in. Elijah turned his flashlight off.

"Sorry, but we need to stay safe for the group. Let's go down the other side, like you said. Be sure to stay alert."

"Right."

They backtracked the way they came, headed further down the opposite side. Elijah brought his hands closer to his mouth and breathed into them. _'Goddamn, it's cold. Why can't there be any world-saving ingredients in Cali? I hear it's nice this time of year. Especially with all the riots going down. I'm sure we wouldn't even be noticed.' _Elijah pondered. Before they all left through New York, they were able to catch onto to information that the military was slowing losing control over Los Angeles and that it was being added to Hunter territory. _'Tsh, should've moved East like everyone else. "Closer to foreign aid", "keep you all safer", blah, blah, blah.' _Elijah shook his head. _'Safer'_, he thought, skeptically.

Looking ahead, he saw another overturned desk doing a poor job of covering a gigantic hole in the wall.

"What the hell?" he and Nathan said at the exact same time. They both slowed their paces. Elijah took aim with his shotgun, Nathan had his revolver out in front of him. They were reaching the desk when they heard something clattered and roll away from behind it.

Elijah and Nathan looked at each other for a brief moment, then back at the desk.

'_At least we know the floor's still there.' _Elijah thought, looking on the brighter side of things. They edged closer to the desk. Elijah was getting worried now.

"This is your last chance. Tell me where my crew is and you might live", he threatened. He felt weird saying that. Elijah wondered what Nathan thought about what he just said.

After what felt like an eternity, someone called out from behind, "Alright, alright! Just hold up…" It wasn't a voice Elijah heard before. He put his shotgun inside his backpack and pulled out his pistol. With the free hand, he grabbed his flashlight and clicked it on. _'I need to put you somewhere more easily accessible', _he thought. At the same time, he growled out "Keep your fuckin' voice down."

With the light on, it was easier to see who the two of them got the drop on.

A Hunter, wearing what looked like a bandana around his mouth was looking at them with intense anger. His hands were up in surrender, revealing bloodstained arms. Elijah inwardly shivered at the sight.

"Mind turnin' that fuckin' light off? Bright as hell, man", the Hunter called. "I can't even see who was able to find me. I think I'd want to… remember who it was. To help better myself."

"The light stays on." Nathan said behind him.

"Oh, two of you Fireflies? This should be interesting", said the Hunter. He actually sounded honestly curious as to how this would play out for him.

'_Not well if he keeps the smug attitude up. Last person who acted like this got a bullet to the shoulder.' _Surprisingly, that made him feel better about himself.

"Come here. Over the desk." Elijah commanded.

"Closer to you two? I think you're making this too easy for me."

"Elijah…" he heard Nathan warn.

"I got this", he whispered over his shoulder. He turned to man in front of them. "It's just you're way over there, man", Elijah replied in a mock polite tone. "I don't wanna have to yell. Unless I really have to."

Elijah and the medic took a step back when the Hunter slowly made his way over the obstacle. He walked over to the dirty wall in front of them and slid down it.

"Here I am" he said to Elijah. "Did you and your friend here want to know something? I might be able to tell you."

"Our crew. The other Fireflies in here. Where are they?" Nathan asked before Elijah could.

The Hunter shrugged. "Around. They might be having a good time with my own crew. Just like we will", the Hunter said. His hands seemed to clench in a strange excitement when he finished the sentence.

"I don't think that answer works for us. Try again. Now." Elijah said. His grip was tight on the gun.

"I'm sorry, man. Really, I am, but I haven't the slightest clue where your friends are. I've… been busy."

"Doing what?" Nathan asked him.

"Scavenging. For supplies", he added as though they were slow. Elijah didn't buy it.

He didn't see the man hop over with a bag.

"Without a backpack?" Elijah asked.

"What?" the Hunter said.

"Without a backpack. You're over here getting' supplies for your group and you don't have a single thing on you showing off your 'hard work'?" the support crafter interrogated him. _'They all laughed when I said L.A. Noire was teaching me valuable skills. Laugh now, bitches!' _Elijah mused, confidently. This was going well for him. Already caught him in a lie.

The Hunter was quiet for two heartbeats. "Or maybe", he spoke abruptly. "I hid it somewhere. So assholes like you wouldn't take me for everything I have", he replied, annoyed.

"You sound annoyed. Why's that, pal?" he taunted him. The Hunter scoffed.

"'Cause you're standin' over me with a gun out, like a coward. And here I am without any backup. All by myself. In an abandoned school filled with enemies." Elijah tensed. It wasn't the most subtle of gestures. The Hunter laughed out.

"Ha, ha, ha! Man, you should see the looks on your faces." He returned to a more serious demeanor. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Just wanted to see how good a sense of humor you had. It's decent, in case you were wonderin'."

Elijah's eyes narrowed. "I wasn't." He paused for a moment. "Enough bullshit. Since you can't tell me where MY friends are… let's try yours. Where are they?" Elijah demanded an answer from him. All he got was a scoff in return.

"Out doin' what Hunters do? Huntin' miserable fucks on our territory. You're worse than the military. Pompous pricks come over, tryna 'restore order for the growing population'. They need to deal with their little infection problem before dealin' with us."

'_Infected in Los Angeles? That sure won't be good for us. That kind of stuff normally leads to Hunter expansion. At this rate, they'll have the entire western half of this country. And we'll be stuck between three forces. Not… wait.' _Elijah paused. Why did he think 'three'? Who else is there with guns and a will to expand?

"The Marauders", he said in realization. He pointed the pistol at the Hunter in a more threatening and closer manner. "Who're the fuckin' Marauders? And I swear, if try to dance out this one…", he left the threat open, but it was barely noticed by the Hunter.

"Answer him, now!" Nathan whispered, furiously. The wait was killing him too.

"H-how do you know that name?" the man asked them. His tone had shifted from cocky to worried, real quick. Elijah looked at him confused.

Nathan was about to take over. "We saw the-", he began but Elijah stopped him.

"A friend of yours mentioned them. A 'Eugene' if I remember correctly. And I think I am."

The Hunter seemed to relax at this. As though he were thinking _I can work with this_.

"Eugene? That dumbass has no idea what he's talkin' about. I never heard of no 'Marauders'. What kinda lame-ass name is that anyway?"

"Who fuckin' cares? I know what your friend said. 'I don't know why the Marauders don't just rip you from this existence.'", Elijah finished with a mockery of Eugene's accent. "He also seemed real proud to mention 'Wraiths'. Who are they and what do they have in this?" the crafter asked him.

The Hunter looked away from the two Fireflies, over the desk. He shook his head then looked directly at Elijah, despite the light in his face. "Listen closely, motherfucker. You just made…the BIGGEST mistake of your entire lives. Comin' way out here, thinkin' we wouldn't notice and find you eventually. If the Hunters here don't get you, then those insane, inbred fuckers out there will. The Marauders will wipe out anyone who doesn't bend for them. Just like they did to US!" he shouted at them.

"They knew exactly how to cripple us. They found out our schedule, they fuckin' studied us from the trees! I had a… a family at the camp. My wife, son… daughter. They caught them when most of us were out gathering some supplies." Elijah felt himself getting sicker.

"What… did they do?" he asked, chiding himself for asking a question he didn't want an answer to. The Hunter snarled at them. "What the fuck do you think happened?! When we got back and saw what they did to our camp, how calm they were with what they did… we did it to survive, but you proud fuckin' Fireflies sure as hell won't."

Elijah lowered the gun slightly, believing they were making headway. "I don't want to have to do this. Just tell me what's going on out here. Maybe we could help each other."

He let out a melancholy laugh. "If you saw what I'd seen, you wouldn't say that at all."

"What is it that they have over you all? Why can't you all just…" Elijah was at a loss for words.

"What? Fuckin' what? Fight them?" the Hunter laughed and shook his head as though it were the greatest joke he ever heard. Then he began to cry in front of them. Elijah and Nathan looked at each other. Elijah lowered the gun completely. He crouched down to the Hunter's height.

"I'm sorry, but please… we need to know." Elijah asked, desperately.

The Hunter sniffled for a while before looking Elijah in the eyes.

"You have no idea who it is you're dealing with. They don't want this world fixed. They like it just the way it is." He steadied his breathing and opened his mouth to speak. "They have this… fuckin' factory. Somewhere out a little east from here, out in the forest. They're experimentin'… with this virus."

Elijah's widened. "You mean… they're using it?"

_BANG! _A bullet exploded through his skull, blood spraying onto Elijah face. He scrambled backwards rapidly.

"You've said enough, Andrew. Really, you said too much" a voice from behind called out.

Elijah wiped his face quickly before directing his 9mm into the direction of the assailant. In front of Nathan and him was a man, dressed in a dark-brown, bloodstained trenchcoat, armed with a hunting rifle. On his face, a gas mask covered his true identity.

"It's a shame. I kind of liked him. He knew a little something about chess, decent player", the man said. "Not the best, but decent. I think I might have to take revenge for the man you just killed." The Fireflies stared at the armed man.

"Oh, my mistake. Where are my manners? I'm what everyone out here likes to refer to as a Marauder scout. But you can call me your new best friend. Because I'm sure we'll get along good for the next… 8 minutes." They were absolutely silent. This 'Marauder' looked like he was hiding some kind of body armor beneath his imposing outerwear.

"Are you jealous of my Autumnal wear? It's the latest in the season. Come on, guys. Don't you know it's rude to stare?" the Marauder scout joked with them. Elijah and Nathan looked at each other then, behind them.

"Oh, I love this part. When they run away after thinking they actually…have… a chance." He laughed merrily. He noticed that hadn't tried to escape yet. "Well, go on. Don't ruin my fun."

Running away from the man seemed like the most logical choice.

Elijah had shouted "RUN!" when the Marauder started walking towards them slowly and his heart started to beat erratically. It was nothing but panting, heavy footsteps, and excited laughter echoing through the college. If there were any Hunters still in the college, they would've heard it all.

'_Oh God, oh God, oh God…' _was all he could think. Where could his friends all be? Elijah looked behind them as they ran. As far as he could tell, the man was walking around, taking his time. His mind began to pace as quickly as he felt like he was running: not fast enough.

"No fuckin' way this is actually happening." Elijah said to Nathan, who looked as white as a ghost.

Nathan didn't say anything. Instead, he slowed himself to a halt. Then he took the time to throw up outside of a window onto the ground below them. "You stopped running! Giving up already?" they heard behind them. The footsteps sounded like they were speeding up to a jog. It could've been the blood rushing through Elijah's ears.

"Nathan, come the fuck on, we don't have time for this."

"He… he blew his head off!" Nathan whispered as they continued running. "That's better, you two. Keep up the good work!" they heard from behind.

"Fuck!" Elijah shouted. _'What the hell have we done?' _he thought while running away.

Eventually, the pair came across another obstacle in their paths. The floor was broken, splintered, and ultimately, destroyed. Elijah's heart sank. The gap across looked possible to jump, but he wasn't sure they'd be able to jump the desk while they were at it. _'Who's fuckin' idea was it to leave all the fuckin' desks around?!' _he thought frantically. Where could they hide?

"Elijah, here!" he looked to his left and saw Nathan point to a door. As far as Elijah could tell, it was to a dorm room. As far as he cared, he felt hope in his heart. "Can you open it?" he asked, wildly.

Nathan rushed over to it and slammed into it as best he could. "No, dammit! Elijah get over here and help me!" Elijah did as told and began to ram his shoulder into the door on Nathan's right, eventually synchronizing with him. It felt like forever but the door eventually was forced open.

And that's when they all suffered their first loss.

A female Runner slammed into Nathan and ripped into his neck. "Noooaghhh!" he heard him shout. Elijah was on it in a second. But a second too late. He hit it with his pistol repeatedly until it's skull caved in and mashed it's brain. Elijah looked up and saw Nathan holding his torn jugular, blood pouring profusely from the wound and his mouth. Eventually, he slid down the floor and lost consciousness in a bloody mess.

Tears pressed against his eyes. He moved over to him and cried silently. For him to go out the way he did, it was breaking Elijah down. He looked into Nathan's soulless eyes one more time and shut them.

"G-goodbye…" he managed before crying again. They were all supposed to leave. What happened to the plan?

"I see you crying over there! What happened? Do you want to talk about it?" the Marauder shouted from down the hall. Elijah looked back at him and screamed "I'll fucking kill you!"

Elijah took aim with his 9mm and blasted off three shots, all of them missing, because the Marauder had hidden behind the corner, laughing with glee.

"Isn't this fun?" he shouted over the sound of gunfire.

"I will fucking bury you!" Elijah shouted back. His sight was blurred by tears and fury.

"Sorry, for your loss, man. I'll give you… 3… 5 minutes to say goodbye, then you and I should chat a little." He paused. "He seemed nice", the Marauder quipped. Elijah roared.

"Bastard!" he yelled out.

"Take your time now."

Elijah wiped his tears away and looked down at his friend's body. "God, no… please…" he whispered. He said a silent prayer for Nathan, hoping he'd find peace away from this ruined life. He looked at his hand saw the revolver still in it, the grip looked tight on it. Elijah stared at it for a while before deciding to reach for it. He took it into his hand and watched Nathan's fall limply to the floor. As it hit, more tears fell down. Elijah couldn't bare this insanity before him. He reached over and put a hand on his shoulder.

That's when he noticed the silver gleam on his shirt. It was his Firefly pendent. Elijah's hand found its way to it before he knew what he was doing.

He yanked the chain and heard it _snap _off. He looked it over. _Nathan Vidrine, 000197. _Elijah pocketed the chain and stood up.

"Are you done yet, man? I'm getting' bored. Somehow, your friend dying wasn't enough to quench my thirst for vengeance. Five more minutes, pal. Then, I'm comin' for your head." He didn't say anything else after that.

Elijah took one last look at Nathan. He couldn't believe he was gone. He remembered all they've been through, having to huddle together and bond over a fire to keep everyone warm. Elijah remembered him and Kyren making fun of each other, both of them gaining laughter which each new friendly insult they came up with. But, no more of that. No more of that ever again. After this, they would never be able to enjoy themselves again while out here in unfriendly territory.

Elijah stood up to leave and deal with the immediate problem, but couldn't ignore something else.

All of the supplies, if any in his bag were now being effectively unused by the original owner.

"I'm… so sorry for this, Nate. God, I'm so sorry…" he leaned down and opened his friend's pack after having to push him away from it. Inside was as much as he expected from a medic. In neat, ordered formation, he found some scissor blades, a full pack of binding tape, a rag, and even a small ammo box full of bullets for the revolver he had. A decent find for anybody, these days. Elijah just wished it came from one of those small red toolboxes he mentioned. Not from his friend.

"Time's up, Elijah. I think I heard him say that was your name!" the Marauder called out.

Elijah gritted his teeth and put his 9mm pistol back into the holster. He shoveled everything except for the bullets into his bag. He closed his backpack up and with the revolver in one and the bullets in the other, he charged into the door he lost someone for.

Inside was a dorm room as he expected. There was a set of bunk beds surrounding the room. From what he could imagine, the rug on the floor was covered in blood. He had to step over quite a few objects to get into the center of the room. In front of him was a closet door with slits on them, showing off the inside of it. Behind him was access to a bathroom that adjoined to another room.

The bathroom's door was already open, so stepping in was easy. Inside he found a bag of what looked like sugar. He put that in his bag, knowing that it could be used to create smoke bombs. There wasn't a place to hide in the bathroom, so he just waited behind its door, while loading three extra bullets into the revolver, fulfilling it's round.

And he waited. And waited. And waited…

"_Welcome to your life…" _Elijah heard him whisper. _'I will fucking murder this bastard. No more second chances.'_

"…_.there's no going back. Even while you sleep… we will find you, tryin' to do the world a favor? Turn your back on Mother Nature? Ha, all you Fireflies want is to rule the world…" _the Marauder continued as he ripped open the closet door and searched wildly for Elijah. When he didn't find him, Elijah heard him continued singing. _"It's my only life… and it's your remorse. Help me to decide, help me to make the most of my freedom and my pleasure. But my fun won't last forever because all you damned Fireflies want is to rule the world."_

'_I don't want the world__**. I want you dead.**__'_

He kept on singing, enraging the hell out of Elijah. _"I know a place where your light won't reach you. Take my hand as the world breaks down tonight! When it does, you'll find me right behind you. I'm so glad, I've almost made it, aren't you so sad that your old life's faded? But, hey, all you damn Fireflies want is to rule the world", _he had finished his song. As luck would have it, there he was, right in the doorframe, so close to Elijah, and so unaware.

"You like that song, man? I did." He waited for feedback. "No? I really do. That was my own little remix on it. I call it _'The Fireflies Want The World'. _It's like number… 3 on my mixtape. Maybe if you come out, I'll play it for you. Here's a remix on Johnny Cash's remix of _Hurt"_.

"_I hurt myself… today. To see if I still feel." _Elijah had enough. He got up quickly, startling the Marauder. Elijah slammed the bathroom door into his face as hard as possible, crushing the mask into his face and breaking one of the eye's lenses.

"You son of a bitch!" Elijah had shouted at him. He was beating him with the revolver inside of the enclosed dorm room. The Marauder, disoriented, tripped over the various debris in the room. "I'm going to end you!" he shouted at him as he did a hard swipe up with the gun knocking the Marauder back into the hallway where his friend had died.

Seeing Nathan lying there on the ground, next to the one that caused his death…

…Elijah was absolutely enraged.

He tackled the Marauder into the glass window, causing it to fracture between their combined weight and the force used. The Marauder was tired of being his punching bag and struck back by slamming his two fists onto Elijah's back. He fell beneath him and was kicked in the stomach. Elijah coughed out loudly. The gun fell from his hands and was about to be picked up by the Marauder, even though he was still dazed from the sudden barrage. Despite the burning sensation in his stomach, Elijah got back up and punched the man in the stomach, hitting the armor and feeling his knuckles crack.

"Hurts, don't it?" he mocked him, before headbutting Elijah to the ground.

"You won't be around to see how I destroy all of you fucking Fireflies! I just wanted to have a nice, friendly game and you try to kill me for having… fun? Really, Elijah? That's weak", the Marauder said while he fell backwards onto the glass window.

"Don't you say my fuckin' name!" Elijah shouted at him.

"Come on! I thought we were cool, son. I sang a song for you!" he shouted back.

Elijah was reaching for his shotgun when he realized it was knocked out of his bag from the resulting fistfight. They had both spotted it right between them.

They both dived for it.

They both reached it.

The Marauder punched Elijah as hard as he could from the lying down position he was in. Elijah's pure adrenaline shook it off.

Elijah knew he wouldn't be able to hit him with that gas mask on. Instead, he twisted the shotgun one way, making the Marauder unprepared when Elijah forced it back the other way and knocked him in the mouth while he was at it. The Marauder fell to the ground and Elijah place his foot on the man's heaving chest.

"Oh, wow… was… was it good for you?" he asked the victor of the fight.

Elijah remained silent, shotgun aimed at his head.

"Oh, come on… all this over a… a fucking field medic? Really? We're tighter than this, bro. Put the shotgun down", he tried to coax him into it.

Not going to work.

"Take off that mask." Elijah commanded.

"W-what?" the Marauder asked him.

"Take the fuckin' mask off so I can see the face of the bastard I lost a friend to. Take it off, NOW!" he shouted at him as loudly as possible. Hunter, Marauder, Infected could've swarmed him and he wouldn't care. As long as he put an end to this bastard's existence, he would've died content.

"OKAY, OKAY! Fuck…" he heard him whisper, slowly ripping the mask of his face.

Scarred. That's how Elijah would've described him. Scarred… and scared. Light blue eyes shone dully, his bald head glistening. The scars lined his nose, side of his face, taking some hair away from his dark beard. He even had one on the top of his head, a thin purple line, bruised.

"Before I kill you, what happened to my friends?" Elijah asked through gritted teeth.

The Marauder laughed, bleak and humorlessly. "Distraction, man. Your friends are gone now. The Hunters did their job well. They're about to become friends of the Marauders. Maybe see if your little van's still outside, yeah?" Elijah's heart sank again. He looked down at the monster beneath him with intense fury.

"You know Elijah… that man is dead because of you", the Marauder boldly proclaimed. Elijah brought the gun closer to his face.

"What, man? It's all because you didn't kill that fuckin' coward." Elijah's eyes widened. "I would've killed him for abandoning his allies, that's a major no-no with us Marauders. But, he had warned me of the fighting and gave me a real, real good idea. When I got to this college and saw the how divided you all were, the plan changed."

"You think we'll let this slide? We will get our friends back."

"I really hope you try. And in your final moments, when your 'family' lays dead all around you… you'll know what that you can't do anything but accept it as is."

"Is that what you feel now?" the support crafter spat at him.

The Marauder's eyes widened as Elijah raised the shotgun and slammed it into his face. Once, twice, three times, four times.

Around the sixth time, he heard a sickening snapping sound.

Around the ninth time, blood began to fly up from the Marauder's battered face.

"Havin' fun yet, you motherfucker! Huh?! Are you!? No? Because you're fuckin' dead!" he bellowed, slowly falling to his knees and laying down on his back.

He laid there, surrounded by three bodies, wondering _'Where the fuck does anyone go from here?'_

The answer came from the person he last wanted to see right now.

Kyren.

He had ran over to Elijah's side as quickly as possible, dropping his weapon along the way. They had hugged, relieved to see each other.

Then, he had to look around and see the destruction.

"Oh…oh God, w-what the hell happened, Elijah?!" Kyren nearly shouted. All Elijah could do was reach into his pocket, tears in his eyes and show Kyren the pendent of their fallen friend. Kyren looked around, seeing the Runner dead, Nathan dead, and finally, the most gruesome of all, the Marauder.

He had looked his childhood friend in the eyes, with absolute distraught in them and a clear message: _'How could you do this to that man?'_

Elijah was silent for the rest of the time until Kyren led the two of them outside into a waiting crowd.

"Oh, my God, Elijah!" he heard. "What happened to you?" "Where's Sarah, Tommy, and the others?" "They fuckin' jacked our ride!" "Why are you covered in blood, Elijah?" "How did this happen to us?"

'_If only I knew…' _he thought.

"They're gone…" Elijah had whispered.

"Gone? What'd you mean 'gone'?" Elijah walked forward to where their van use to be. He didn't even feel his knees touch the gravel.

"Kyren, you went up there and found him. What happened up in there?" Marlene asked, her eyes narrowed.

It was quiet for a moment before he spoke. "Nathan's… gone, everyone. He's dead."

Gasps, sounds of disbelief.

"Wha… what happened?!"

"Hey, Elijah! What the fuck happened up there?!"

Elijah rose as though he were being weighted down. He turned to face them. Seventeen pair of eyes all on him.

"They were fuckin' following us!" he shouted at them. They were surprised at the outburst.

"Somewhere along the way, we slipped up and failed! Now, our people, OUR PEOPLE are payin' for it!" He reached in his pocket and pulled out the pendent. "Nathan Vidrine's fuckin' dead because I couldn't what was necessary and save him. His death is on my hands. And I…know that. I have to accept that. But no more! I won't fuckin' accept that our friends, our allies, our family is out there and that only God knows what's happening to them!"

"We need to get them back!" someone shouted. Kyren and Marlene and quite a few others looked at Elijah with shock.

He didn't care however. "This was our biggest mistake", he continued. Thinkin' we could come out here, in fuckin' Hunter territory to face them with only 24 of us!" he stopped his speech to pace around, furious and to let that fact sink in.

"But their biggest mistake was thinkin' we're just gonna let them fuck us over and take our family from us!" Elijah shouted. Everyone joined in his cheer.

"We can't wait any longer!" someone shouted.

"Elijah, what the hell happened to you in there?" a Firefly asked him. Realizing how familiarly patronizing the voice was to him, Elijah turned to it. As did everyone else.

"I had my eyes opened, Tommy." Elijah replied, relieved at seeing him join them. _'One less stop to make'._

"Heh, I think I missed too much, man." Tommy said to him.

"You didn't miss anything good." Elijah paused. "Nathan's dead, Sarah and the others have been taken hostage."

"No…" he whispered.

"Yes, but we're getting them back. Aren't we, everyone?" Marlene spoke up, thinking Elijah needed to cool down for a moment.

"You're damn right!" they all shouted in unison.

"Before he died, Nathan saved my leg. He saved my life. Elijah left me on the sides last time. But this time, I know damn well I won't stand aside and watch us get screwed over by fuckin' Hunters!" Tommy shouted, joining the fray. Everyone shouted in union at the statement.

"And when we get them back, we make sure they learn to never fuck with us again…all of them be damned!" Elijah had meant to say that to himself, but it was loud enough for Marlene and Kyren to hear. They didn't look to happy.

"Elijah, we need to talk…" Kyren said, handing him back his shotgun and Nathan's revolver. Marlene was studying him intently.

He slid the shotgun into his backpack but hesitated when he reached for Nathan's gun. In the end, he took the gun and put it underneath his shirt behind him.

"What?" he asked them.

"Shit clearly went down in there. I think people are noticing this new change of yours…" Kyren continued.

Elijah looked down and did his best to process the all the information he learned inside the college that night.

"Feel like walkin' and talkin'? We've got some work to do." Elijah said before turning off without a response.

Kyren and Marlene looked at each other, both of them worried about the support crafter.

He just wasn't the same anymore.

**A/N: I need a moment to thank the current 125 viewers that checked out my story and have been on the journey with Elijah since Chapter 1. Just… thank you all. We made it to Chapter 5 already!**

**And for those wondering, it does hurt to kill off a friendly character like that…**

**How does George R.R. Martin and Robert Kirkman do it **_**so easily?**_** They have a wheel with character names and whoever the arrow lands on dies? "Whoops, lol bro. You're off the team now."**

**Ah well, the Fireflies track and fight for their allies in Chapter 6- "Hunting The Hunters". **

**And I've been thinking about adding something to a chapter's end credit. Since it's basically a game…**

**Trophy Gained: 'Welcome To Your Life- **_**Did something you wouldn't have done before'.**_

**Yes or no on getting a reward for each chapter completed besides my everlasting thanks?**

**And about the song(s)… they seemed to go well with showing off how crazy anyone of the Marauders could be. **


	6. Hunting The Hunters

Chapter 6- Hunting The Hunters

**Sandpoint… 10:23pm**

**09/29/16 journal entry:**

"_I had absolutely no intentions of writing in this thing while we were out here. I mean, it's cool you're 'TeamSpidey' and all. Hey, I respect that. Maybe use you as kindling… but, all great authors had to start somewhere. I think I technically started with that nice little rally cry we got circulating around. Whatever, I think I'll call this adventure… 'Just Another Survivor'. Yeah… yeah, that's good. _

_It's a little ironic because I doubt many survivors have to deal with a fuckin' gang war! _

_Excuse me, whoever's reading. Let me explain… we, the Fireflies, have a problem. At first, we were only expecting to deal with Hunters on this journey westward. I mean, that's kind of what we all signed up for. Just __**Hunters**__. Maybe with the exception of a few Infected here and there. _

_But now… we have an entire new faction to deal with._

_I say that because it's clear. Those bandits back there were extorting those Hunters, the people we thought would be our hugest problem. Our problem has a problem. And now that we're here, way out in 'Hunter' territory without any Firefly support in sight, their problem just became __**our **__problem. _

_Hunters, possibly infected, and now bandits that have twice our numbers and some kind of 'special ammo'._

_All I know is, we should probably do our best to avoid them. Like never see them ever again while we're here."_

He scoffed. _'Should've listened to my past self.'_

Elijah put the journal in his backpack and kept walking. He could feel the numerous looks people were giving him. Some worried and concerned. Others seemed to nod in agreement with how differently he was now.

Kyren was one of the worried ones. "So…" he began, barley hiding his wariness. "What's new in the 'Book of Eli'?"

"Nothing", Elijah replied. Kyren nodded. The Fireflies had been walking through the streets for a while. They had passed by the college and were now walking parallel to the thick green scenery that housed the ambush. A couple of Fireflies had their assault rifles aimed at the bushes as they passed by, but nothing except for wind moving through the bushes had disturbed them.

Elijah was walking ahead, determined to be the first to spot any Hunters or Marauders nearby. He was actually walking much further ahead than the group. Marlene noticed this and was about to say something to bring him in closer but Kyren thought it'd be better for him to say something. That's why the two of them were so far ahead of the group.

"Ah, so…" his friend began.

"What is it?" Elijah's eyes narrowed.

"It's just, you said we'd do some talking. About what happened back at the college?"

Elijah looked down. _'I did, didn't I?' _"What's there to talk about? I went in to help get the others out and I failed. I didn't put the group first before my own feelings and as a reward Nathan died and six of our own are gone. That's all that you need to know."

Kyren was silent for a while. "That man. The uh, Marauder, you called him?"

His jaw clenched. "What about him." Elijah said, less in question and more in demand. _'Just say it and get it over with.'_

Silence.

"Elijah, nobody sees and does what you did and saw and not… have some sort of backlash come from it", Kyren said abruptly. Elijah stopped walking and turned towards him.

"I did what needed to be done", he defended himself.

"You bashed his face in. How was that necessary?" Kyren looked at him in the eyes and demanded.

"It made me feel so much better, that's why!" Elijah replied, feeling himself get more and more defensive.

"You're no killer, Elijah." Kyren said, walking in front of him.

"And now I am. How else is anyone supposed to make it in this world now? Making little gifts and hope others will take care of the monsters for him? That changes for me now. I'll take my shots and hope for the best." Elijah was getting really annoyed now.

"Is there a problem you two?" Marlene called out to them. The two Fireflies turned to her and noticed how far ahead they were from the rest of the group. They turned back to staring at each other.

Kyren spoke first. "No problems here, Marlene. No problems", he brushed past Elijah and was walking back to the remainder of the Fireflies. Elijah saw Marlene look at Kyren then him. She looked at him like she was disappointed.

'_Really, lady? Not in the mood.' _Elijah thought as he continued on forward. 

Checking his watch, he saw that only an hour had passed and they were nowhere closer to wherever their friends were. Elijah sighed to himself. _'That Hunter… Andrew. He said that they had some kind of factory, east of the college. Out in the forest. And that fucking bastard that chased me and killed… he didn't add anything. Fuck them, we'll find the others.' _The college had faded behind them a while ago, something Elijah appreciated for the most part. In fact, all that was concrete left was the road they walking on, and even that seemed to slowly be turning in dirt and displaced rocks.

Elijah looked around and saw a mass of dense foliage coming up in front of them. Left of the trees was a dirt pathway.

With tire tracks in them.

Elijah broke out in a grin. He turned to face the Fireflies a couple of feet away from him and waved his hand rapidly. They rushed forward to see what he was gesturing to.

"Elijah", Marlene greeted. "What'd you find?" she continued to ask curiously.

"Check this out, y'all. See those?" he said, pointing to the ground. They all crowded around to get a look. With the relieved sighs that came afterwards, it was clear they saw the tracks.

"Holy shit, nice!" one of them said.

"Got a bead on the bastards now…" he heard Tommy whisper.

Kyren looked at the tracks skeptically. "Hmm…" Elijah looked at him directly.

"Problem?" he asked. Kyren turned to him.

"This… might be a problem", he had said.

"Oh what, really? We just find out that they left a trail behind and it's a bad thing? Please, explain" Elijah said to him annoyed.

Kyren made a face. "Think about it, smartass. Who's to say they didn't split up? See all that clearing and grassland space over there?"

"I do see more forest down there, in case you missed that." Elijah replied.

Kyren ignored him. "Some Hunters could've broke off with our people while a few others stayed in the van to throw us off. Or the opposite, it doesn't matter. It's risky either way", he said. Kyren crossed his arms believing he's won.

Elijah began a retort but stopped himself, considering the possibility. He looked and saw the smug look on his face. "Fine. Ignoring all the possibilities of another fuckin' ambush down either one of these paths, what do you suggest, oh, wise one?"

Kyren looked at Marlene, as though he were waiting for her permission. She looked back and nodded.

The group listened to him sigh before saying, "We… might have to split up." Elijah's eyes widened.

"Are you insane?! Remember what happened the last time we split up? You should, it happened like two hours ago!" he shouted at him.

"Listen to me!" his friend shouted back. "I know what the fuck happened when we were back there. But now, we have an idea."

"An idea? We don't have any clue what we're dealin' with here!" Elijah retorted.

"Then why don't you tell us since you fuckin' know everything!" Kyren exclaimed.

Elijah started to speak but Marlene cut him off. "You two need to calm the hell down!" she said to them. They both turned to her, each one hoping for back up from her.

Kyren had gotten it. "Elijah, he's right. We don't know if they're all still together. The best thing we should do is split up and scout them out."

"But-" he began.

"No. We're going with Kyren's plan. There's…" she counted silently to herself. "Eighteen of us left. Nine go down this path. Nine more go down the clearing", Marlene said, with finality.

"Nineteen of us, actually…" they heard the doctor whisper. They all seemed to ignore him.

"Marlene…" Elijah continued.

"That's an order, Elijah", she said firmly. Elijah tilted his head slightly. _'That's a real bad idea…' _he said to himself. He rubbed his chin and nodded. "Okay…" he looked at Kyren. "Sounds like a plan, then." 

He had ended up going down the clearing with Marlene, Dr. Westmore, and seven others. The others continued down the road, Kyren leading them away.

'_Time of my fuckin' life…' _he thought bitterly. He had walked off and was the first to hear the crunch of grass beneath his dirty light brown boots. He could actually feel someone glaring at him from behind. He took a guess and decided it was probably Marlene. _'God, what the hell's her problem? This is the second worst plan we could've chosen today! Our chances of living long enough to find the others just got cut in half. Ugh… at least we've got Tommy a.k.a. the only semi-sensible yet, annoyingly sarcastic person on our little team here.' _Elijah looked behind him and found himself actually disappointed to not see him.

'_Well damn', _he concluded. _'Time to be all 'go team!' I suppose…' _Elijah thought as he slowed himself down and waited for the others.

Ever since the incident at the college, Elijah let his hand hover over the 9mm strapped to his leg, just waiting for another attack. He didn't want to believe in the serenity that had found them since they were ambushed.

They were out in the most dangerous place to be a Firefly, divided by Hunters, separated once again by Hunters, and strangely, the thing most unsettling to Elijah was how the air was filled with sounds of crickets and the night air breezing past.

He sighed as the others finally reached him.

"You gonna be alright, Elijah?" a Firefly named Sandra asked him.

He just shrugged. "I'll see after we find the rest of our crew and get back to the East coast. Until then, no", he replied grimly.

He just knew they were in store for something bad.

'_This was an absolutely horrible idea.' _Elijah mused once again. They were looking at the treeline with their weapons all drawn and slightly aimed at the bushes. _'At least we're so much more prepared…' _Elijah thought sarcastically. With his pistol aimed at the foliage, Elijah thought he was doing well enough on making sure they were all going to be safe… until the boss came over.

"This is becoming a problem", she said quietly. Even after sleeping for an entire day, she still looked weary. As if all this were draining every aspect of her. Despite how she must've felt, she looked at him sternly.

"I don't know what happened to you back there but it's clearly affecting you. You don't think people notice when two friends fight?" she continued on.

Elijah turned to her fully. "I don't think I'm doing anything wrong, ma'am. I just want us to all be together when we find our people. That's all." She narrowed her eyes slightly when he had said 'ma'am'.

"Elijah, I'm giving you a chance to tell me, right now, what happened with that one man. The 'Marauder'." Marlene replied.

Elijah broke eye contact and looked down. He wanted to tell her but hesitated. _'Why would that Hunter lie about something like that? Either he deserves a Grammy or there's people out here surrounding us that want to… control the Infected? Is something like that even possible? Oh God… if it is… and they have our friends…' _Elijah shook his head to calm himself and looked up. Marlene was visibly concerned.

"Tell me what happened, Elijah. Please", she asked him. Elijah looked at her and saw she dreaded to hear the truth.

"Marlene, these… Marauders are-", he began, until three gunshots were fired off into the air. It sounded distant, but not coming from the direction Kyren had taken the others.

It was coming from behind them, in the forest.

"Fuck…" he heard Marlene whisper. He looked around them wildly to make sure no one else was watching them this time. As the doctor and the others rushed over to Elijah and Marlene, he concluded his investigation and decided they were safe.

"Marlene, what's the plan?" a Firefly named Barrett said, aiming his grey and black sniper rifle at the bushes.

Marlene looked at Elijah and he did the same. She turned to the bushes and walked to them silently. She crouched down and pushed her head through to observe any fighting. She stepped back and looked at them. "I don't see anything but we probably shouldn't take the chance. I say we wait here for Kyren and the others. Then we'll all go check out that gunfire."

Elijah didn't agree. "Marlene, those might be our friends out there! If it is, we can't wait for him to bring backup. They need us now", he said gravely.

"Elijah…" she warned him. Her tone indicating that she wasn't in the mood for any more problems.

Elijah saw that the others were staring at him now, waiting for his next move. It was actually unnerving to him now.

He decided that he needed a moment away. "At least let me go see what the hell's going on out there", Elijah pleaded with her.

"And if you get caught?" she asked. "Then what?"

"If I do get caught, then at least I tried something", he coldly replied. He walked past the glares and stares delivered to him and headed into the forest. 

'_Well, I'm in trouble, aren't I?' _he thought as he got farther away from his group. _'Just gonna let me walk off on my own? Thanks, people. That's really nice of you all.'_

He slowed himself down until he was barely moving. When he did so, he became much more aware of the twigs and dying leaves crunching soundly beneath him.

"Keep this up and you won't have much 'element of surprise' left", he whispered to himself. Elijah did his best to minimalize the sound, but couldn't do much.

He looked around and saw nothing but trees, trees, leaves, and more trees…

…until the next gunshot was fired off and he heard someone shout out. As his breathing quickened, he looked ahead to see a small space between the bushes ahead. Considering that a good enough place to look through, he sped his pace up and reached the space.

Looking through, he couldn't process what he was seeing properly. And that's what bothered him the most.

Elijah saw four figures standing near two, three bodies lying on the ground. It appeared to be a full blown camping site. Tents that were originally up were now strewn about haphazardly near them. A fire that was once possibly glowed bright was now covered by a backpack, thus blackening it and burning its material. What was most strange about the four in front of him was that they seemed to be fighting.

With machetes.

"You fucking bitch…" a man had said. He seemed to be struggling with his words, slurring them along as though his tongue wasn't being used. The machete he wielded was a ghastly sight. Covered in bloodstains, the black metal used for the blade was bent and crooked, as though it found itself under constant use. The man himself didn't look any better. Elijah noticed he was wearing only a dark brown trench coat that had some sort of dark pattern on it, a pair of stained dark blue jeans, and black combat boots. The other two that were standing behind the man with the trench coat wore something else. They both had on light blue sweatshirts. With wide eyes, he realized why the apparel was so… familiar.

This was a Marauder with Hunter allies.

"It's your own fault. How many times did I tell you?" another voice spoke. It belonged to a female. She seemed to be enjoying the moment. He couldn't see so very far ahead, but it was hard to not notice the telltale yellow hoodie and dark right armband her small form was sporting. No matter how dirty it appeared, it was clear:

This was a Firefly.

Elijah noticed there was three on one. Completely without an actual plan, he rushed forward, announcing his presence.

They all turned to him in surprise.

"What the fuck?" he heard the Firefly and one of the Hunters say. Under normal… less strenuous circumstances, that would've made him laugh or at least smile. All he could do, was aim his 9mm pistol at the much taller man and his allies in front of him.

"Drop your weapons and get the hell away from her!" he had growled at enemies.

"Aw, now who's this prick? And you brought a gun to a machete-fight? That's against the rules!" one of the Hunters deadpanned. The Firefly scoffed at the support crafter. Elijah looked over at her, even more confused. _'What did I just walk in on?' _he asked himself.

"I don't know who this guy is, but this right here…" she raised the machete to gesture at the space between her and the armed men. "…is between you three. Me. And this little thing I ripped off your friend's body." The Hunters made a low, growling sound like dogs ready to rip apart an intruder.

"Wait, wait… there's three of them and one of you?" he asked her. The Firefly looked at him, then the Marauder, then she laughed. It worried him how… manic it almost sounded.

"I think so. I never did like math. All those calculations and shit just made the basics even harder to remember. Don't think I even remember what 9+10 even was."

"That… was that… are you joking? This isn't a joke!" Elijah replied.

"I found it kind of funny…" he heard the Marauder deadpan.

She rolled her dark eyes and shook her head, her wild dark hair shaking with the motions. "Don't make a joke at least once a day nowadays and you'll have a coronary attack."

'_What the hell did I just walk into?' _he asked himself. "Are you kidding me?" he asked aloud. She turned to him.

"No… you know what a coronary attack is, right?" she asked Elijah. _'Unfortunately, yeah. Lost a good person to one', _he thought, his gaze lowering slightly before returning back to the Firefly.

"Uh… I-" he began instead until one of the Hunters charged him, machete raised. Immediately aiming the gun at the man, he felt time slow down, along with his thoughts. _'It's time, man. Don't make the same mistake twice' _he said to himself.

When he pulled the trigger and watched the bullet fly through the Hunter, he actually closed his eyes and flinched.

"No! Nick!" the other Hunter shouted at fallen man. He picked his gaze up and glare murderously at the support crafter. "You motherfucker! I'll tear you in half!" the man shouted as he charged Elijah in a fit of rage and grief.

Elijah was too… distracted by the light fading from the man's eyes. The one he just shot.

The second Hunter tackled him to the ground and began to choke him, vengeance shining bright in his eyes. His gun flew out of his hands. _'Really?' Again?' _he asked himself, finally snapping back to reality. Elijah fumbled around and tried to claw at the man on top of him, but couldn't get a good hold on him.

"Damn it, man! Grab his machete!" he heard the woman shout at him. He couldn't see it, but it looked like she was trying to surpass the Marauder blocking her, preventing her from reaching Elijah.

"I hope you know what you've done now…" he heard the Hunter choking him whisper angrily.

'_I do, actually. I… I'm sorry. Damn it, I… who am I to decide who lives and dies?' _he thought weakly. The anger that had consumed him earlier that night had faded, now replaced with remorse. He realized he had just put another person in the exact same situation he was in before after Nathan had died.

His hands were still wandering around behind him. He felt the handle of the machete. Elijah just knew he wasn't ready to die.

The blade found itself stuck into the man's neck, blood pouring out immensely. It reminded him of what happened to Nath…

"Get up, now!" the Firefly shouted at him, interrupting his thoughts. Elijah had something else to focus on now, besides the warm, sticky blood covering most of his hoodie now. He pushed his dead attacker off of him and reached for the gun that was tossed aside in the struggle. Looking at the two fighting behind him, it appeared the Marauder had the upper hand now. Elijah saw that the Marauder was standing over her, the Firefly's machete blocking a downward swipe from her opponent. His wandering hands couldn't find the gun, so he just got up and rammed his shoulder into the last man, knocking the two of them away from the downed woman.

The two of them struggled, Elijah rolled on top of him and was pounding away at his opponent's face, keeping him dazed. The Marauder grabbed Elijah by the neck with both hands and pushed him off. _'Don't kill him, get answers, don't kill him, get answers, don't kill him get answers!' _Elijah commanded himself as he struggled to his feet. This was the last one left.

This one had to know something about any plans they had for his other friends.

He was actually worried when he saw his ally drag the machete across the Marauder's lower ankle, slowly severing tendons.

"AHHHH! YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" he spat at her.

As if they couldn't wait any longer, Marlene and two other Fireflies rushed through the bushes. Elijah wasn't sure if he was relieved or annoyed.

"Elijah!" one of them exclaimed. He noticed the worried, yet annoyed look Marlene was giving him. Elijah didn't see Kyren or any new faces with Marlene.

"I'm… I'm fine!" he replied. He turned from them to avoid their disbelieving stares. He looked down and found the Marauder crawling towards him, a large blood pool trailing behind him.

"You bastards are going to get what's coming to you..." he whispered so low, Elijah doubted anyone else heard him. He watched the Firefly who wounded the man in front of him, walk off, searching for something.

"Where did you take our friends?" he leaned down to face him.

"To Disneyland, friend. That's where", was the reply.

Elijah grabbed the man by the collar of his bloody trench coat, hearing him wince in pain. "Does it sound like I'm in the mood to be playing games? Tell me WHERE" he whispered in his ear angrily.

"Don't be a fool. Now that we've got them, you won't see them again. Your best hope…" he spat out a glob of blood and looked at Elijah with more intensity. "…is to escape back to your little safe havens back in the east and stick with fighting the military. We don't have limits. They won't stop until all of us are under their control. Maybe if you're lucky, this incident doesn't reach the boss man. Because once they're done taking down the other Hunter strongholds…" he laughed humorlessly. "…what stops us from coming for you?"

"You know, I met someone who mentioned this plan of theirs. His name was Andrew. Maybe you'd like to finish what he left out?" Elijah asked. The Marauder smiled widely, showing off a set of teeth so yellow and crooked-like, Elijah wondered if brushing them was a problem before the world started to break apart.

"Andrew? Of course I know him. He was so displeased with our ideas. Maybe if he kept it to himself, he wouldn't have lost such a lovely family", the man replied, still slurring the words.

"He's with them now. One of you crazy fucks killed him", the support crafter said.

"Aw… ain't that a shame."

"Quit the bullshit! He said that you bastards were doing something to the virus. What, experimenting with it? Are you fuckin' insane?!" Elijah shouted. Behind them, he heard someone gasp. _'I wish you heard it a better way, but I guess it's too late for that. Is there even a better way to explain?' _he asked himself, feeling ashamed.

"Or maybe, we're just doing what you and the military can't. Maybe we want to fix this world, just as much as you do?" he heard a coy reply come from him.

"Elijah, what do you mean?" he heard Marlene ask him. She paused. "Is that what you were going to tell me?"

"It was", he said.

"I'm not saying anything that would hinder our progress. I plead the fifth!" the Marauder spoke loudly and giggled incessantly. Elijah glared at him menacingly. Marlene walked over.

"Whatever it is that you're planning to do with the virus, we won't let it happen. We'll get the cure before you bring us all down to your level of insanity", she said in an aggressive manner.

The Marauder just laughed. "Like you're the protectors of this fine country we live in. I don't see what the problem is. Maybe you all just need to learn to let go."

"And that's why I hope you don't mind that we leave", said the same Firefly that Elijah fought with before the others came to 'help'. "Us being 'yours' and all", she concluded. Elijah looked up and saw the Firefly flanked by five others, each looking at the Marauder with violent actions on mind. Behind him, he heard Marlene whisper. "Holy shit", she had said. "A-Ashley, is that you?" The Firefly looked at the direction of the voice and broke out in a huge smile. She rushed forward. The two of them hugged each other tightly.

"Marlene! I can't believe it… what are the chances you'd be out here?" Ashley asked her excited. Elijah smiled lightly to himself. _'Old friends, I guess? It's good that they-'_ his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of coarse laughter from right in front of him.

"Ain't that nice… two friend, together again. I feel myself tearin' up a bit…" Ashley looked at the Marauder with a cold gaze. "Aw, I hope you aren't still mad about that whole thing in the tent. I just thought you wanted some good company. Guess I was wrong…" the wounded man said.

"When'd you figure that out? Was it before or after I almost bit your tongue off?" she replied coolly.

Elijah looked back at the Marauder, his patience getting thinner and thinner. "Last time I ask. Where'd your fuckin' puppets take my friends?" he whispered to him.

The Marauder was silent. "Don't talk and we'll find other ways to get it out of you", he added in. Still silent, the Marauder closed his eyes as though he were weighing his options.

"Oh, he sounds serious. If you want to spend more time with those other assholes I plan to kill, you might want to give him an answer." Ashley said, helping Elijah's threat "Or don't and just bleed out already. I sure don't care which", she continued. _'I do, so could you be quiet and not give him any ideas?' _Elijah thought to himself. The Marauder looked up and smiled, showing the unclean teeth once again. Then, he stopped smiling and his jaw seemed to be moving.

Elijah's ears perked up at the sound of a light crush coming from inside the Marauder's mouth. A tear was rolling down his bearded face. He looked at him confused but leaned back quickly when blood started to seep out of his mouth. They all watched in a sickened silence as the Marauder slammed his head down and bit his own tongue off and saw it fall to the dirt and leaf covered ground.

"What the fuck…" Elijah whispered. _'God… what the hell is wrong with these people!?' _he thought. The Marauder, however laughed with glee. His pale eyes shone with tears from the pain but the crazy laughter showed nothing but happy contentment with what he just did. He reached through the leaves and picked up his dismembered tongue, flinging it on Elijah's boot.

Elijah grimaced and shook it off, holding down his sickness. "You're fucking insane!" he heard someone from the group of the once imprisoned Fireflies say.

The Marauder just chuckled and rolled over on his back, his limp leg, slowly straightened.

"We're… going now", they heard Marlene speak. The two that came through with Marlene walked away first, shuddering at the sight they left. The five that Ashley was with looked over at her, as though they were waiting for a command. She nodded and they walked off, following the way the other two just left. Elijah couldn't move at all, still transfixed on the Marauder.

"Hey, you gonna be alright?" he heard Ashley's voice ask him. _'No… no, I'm really not.'_

"Yeah… yeah, I just gotta…" Elijah whispered, before turning away and walking through the bushes, leaving Marlene and Ashley behind to listen to a dying man's insane laughter.

'_Can we really find a cure? That's what the problem isn't it? The virus taking away social order and all that, leaving us with… this. But, families, friends, people have been torn apart trying to survive. Can we even come back from this?' _Elijah wondered deeply.

Stepping out of the bushes and into the fresh green clearing, the moon shone brightly. On a night like this, with the air so clean and the sky so bright with celestial light, it should've been one of those nights where someone would look out and be amazed at the beauty around them.

Elijah just felt dull, wandering through the crowd of Fireflies. It felt like as he walked past, they all stared at him. He never felt so isolated before in his life.

"Where's Ashley at?" one of the Fireflies asked him. Elijah made a weak nodding gesture to the woods. "Catching up with Marlene, I guess…" he said, shrugging.

"Elijah, what happened back there? You're completely covered in blood, man!" another asked him. Elijah looked down.

"I… there were Hunters back there. Hunters and a Marauder", he began.

"You… killed them?" Firefly Sandra asked him incredulously. She actually looked at him with a form of disappointment. Elijah stared blankly at her. Then he scoffed.

"Only to get to the Marauder, the one that might've known where our friends might be. And to save our new teammates", he replied. He heard a light laugh come from behind.

"Who said we're joining you? As far as I can tell, I think our job out here is done", a disheveled Firefly said to him. He looked at Elijah like he couldn't believe he was trying to give orders.

"Because, as far as I can tell, it's with us or dead. There's too many of them and not enough of you to leave help behind the way you're trying to now", Elijah gestured to the woods to get his point across.

"It sounds like you can't even keep a hold on to your own group, why should we be bothered with you all?" the Firefly replied.

Elijah stepped forward and watched the man tense. His eyes narrowed in an attempt to stare Elijah down. "You either help us get the others away from these crazy fucks… or you die, or get experimented on by the Marauders. Which would you prefer?"Elijah said through gritted teeth.

"E-experiment?" they heard the doctor ask him. Elijah mentally cursed himself. "What do you mean by 'experiment'?" Dr. Westmore asked with more force.

"They're abducting Fireflies for experiments with the virus", they heard the boss herself say as she and her friend finally exited the woods. It looked like Ashley had taken the time to appropriate the machetes from the campsite "And they've strong-armed Hunters to capture us for them."

"Oh God… they… they have the others!" a Firefly exclaimed.

"Exactly. We can't leave until they're with us and we're all leaving." Marlene turned to her friend Ashley. "But from what you told me, all you've been through, it sounds like you deserve a break. What do you think, Ash? You could help us get the rest of our crew back and we all go home, or you try to get your team home. I could spot you a few of mine but I don't think that's the safest way to do things."

Ashley looked at her friends, people who she's been surviving with for long time under the oppressive Marauder rule. The five she was with looked back with mixed feelings. Some looked wary of her coming decision. Others looked like they were ready to fight once again. She sighed and stared at the machetes she had in her hands.

"Marlene… I think it's been a bit too long, old friend. We'll help you get the rest of your... our team and we all go home as safely as we can manage", Ashley replied confidently. Elijah was sure she saw Marlene show a relieved smile.

"Good, good idea", she said. Marlene leaned over to her friend and whispered something that made Ashley smile. "Well, of course" was the only reply back.

"Now that that's settled, I think it's time we catch up with Kyren and the others", Marlene's smile faded as she spoke those words. To Elijah, it looked she was thinking _I hope that this plan didn't get them killed_.

Elijah nodded silently and watched them all walk forward. As they walked ahead without him, he looked back at the forest and shook his head. _'It just keeps getting worse, doesn't it?' _he asked himself. Elijah followed the group, this time far behind them. 

The fifteen Fireflies reached the road and had warily walked along its dirt path, the tire tracks being covered slowly and footprints being just as barely visible. The six Fireflies that they had just rescued were basically without weapons of their own, besides the few machetes they scavenged off of the Hunters' campsite. They were doing quite well with examining their surroundings, making sure nothing was out of the ordinary.

Elijah was still walking behind them, his heart set on trying to forget what happened in the woods, but all his mind could do was replay it, over and over.

'_How could someone have that much control over a person? It's… it's insane.'_

He looked up and noticed how everyone else had their weapons out. Elijah reached over to his side, thinking his 9mm would be there. Instead he pulled nothing but the straps of the holster.

"Ah, damn it", he whispered. _'I'm trying to think. I think the clip was empty anyway. I still got…'_ he reached behind his shirt and pulled out the black revolver.

'_Yeah… this'll have to work.'_ Elijah thought as he kept it aimed away from him.

The support crafter walked a little faster when he saw that the rest of the group was about to make a left turn. He began to jog to catch up with them.

"—hopefully, the others will be fine", he heard someone say. Elijah found it strange that he was surprised that it was one of the recently freed Fireflies. _'Nice to see not all of them are going to be so difficult on our rescue attempt…'_

"They had to live with Marlene for a while. If they survived with her, they'll survive anything", said Ashley.

"Hey, I don't remember getting us held at gunpoint by those soldiers back in Boston. Sound familiar?" Marlene asked, a smile was clear by the way she spoke. Some Fireflies laughed.

"Aw, come on. Live and forget, remember?"

"Did you forget about you tripping over your own little trap for them? I think that was the reason they found us in the first place."

"I… remember that ridiculous line you said while you got us out of there."

"I thought it was clever!"

"Oh yeah. 'I hope you're not afraid of the dark…' BAM! Dropped a smoke bomb and we were off! Like ninjas. It was reaall…. 'clever'."

"Oh wow, Marlene. Did… did you really say that?" someone whispered out while trying to stifle their laugh.

"Something like that…" she murmured in reply.

"Something exactly like that. I swear, you always were the dramatic one out of all of us. Your… what'd you call it? 'Look For The Light' speech? Absolutely classic. I remember hearing that on the radio way across country and thinking 'Wow… that's really fucking deep.'" Elijah's ears perked up.

"Actually, I think we all owe that to someone else" he heard Marlene say. _'Aw… well, yeah you might'_, he thought smugly. He didn't even notice the fact he had slightly moved faster.

"Elijah there", he heard her explain. "He had written the speech for me to read. That was after we took a military base from the government. While you were gone. Broadcasted it over to anyone listening to their radio. When we get back east, you'll see a bunch of 'Look For The Light' signs and Firefly motifs all over buildings."

Ashley whistled. "Wow… you're the reason we're so famous? Congrats!"

Elijah shrugged. "Eh, I was in the moment. We just fought off the military and took some of their ground. Why the hell not piss them off more?" he said, a light smile forcing it's way.

That seemed to put the group in higher spirits.

Minutes later, they came across a dead end. A series of bushes and foliage, blocking the Fireflies from continuing. The tracks clearly led through them however.

"Oh, what the hell?" Elijah asked to no one in particular. They watched Marlene step forward and survey the bushes in front of them. There was definitely something suspicious about them. He moved through the crowd and examined the bushes with her.

"This doesn't make much sense, does it?" she asked him quietly.

Elijah shook his head. "No, it does not." The bushes looked undisturbed. How could something like a moving van just pass through without tearing through a few bushes?

His mind was speeding up, thinking of anything that would've helped make sense. "Ah, damn it. They just had to have done something… what're the chances they… I don't know, backtracked?" he asked her.

"Always a chance. But these tracks look like they're going all the way through this right here and we didn't see any more anywhere else…"Marlene's brown eyes and widened. She pushed her hands through the bushes and began to search through them.

"Uh, did you drop something?" Elijah heard Ashley ask. She had walked on them to observe their work.

"I think…" she began. Her arms stopped moving and she smiled widely. Stepping back with hands still in the bushes, she pulled back and the bush came with her.

In front of the Fireflies now was a pathway back into the woods with more tire tracks indented on the cold ground.

"…we just found our friends."

"Yes, goddamn!" someone shouted.

"Shh!" someone else said.

"Alright… this might end up being dangerous. We could possibly end up getting them out without any trouble but, we don't know how many are at the end of this path. Chances are we end up in a gun battle and we'll have to shoot our way through. Now that our group doesn't have as many guns on our side, we'll try to avoid any direct actions. It's still dark. Stick to the shadows and take 'em from there", Marlene whispered out her command.

"Are you all ready? This is our chance, possibly our only chance. They need us", she continued to ask.

Elijah nodded. He knew that the others were in agreement.

"Alright then. Let's go…" she said before stepping through into the woods. One by one, they followed her down the path. Elijah was the last one through. He had taken the time to pull the bush covering back shut, in case anyone were on patrol and they wouldn't notice the breach.

Inside the woods, laughter and excitement was heard ringing out. _'Definitely not with us…' _Elijah thought. They all did their best to suppress their footsteps over the leaf laden ground. Getting closer to the source of the commotion, it sounded to them that a fight was going.

"You bastards! You're gonna let all of us the fuck go!" a voice he was relieved and saddened to hear. _'They… how did they get caught?! No!'_

"No, no… Kyren!" Elijah shouted. He rushed away from the group, much to their horror. Now running through with his shotgun out, he leaped through the bushes with a mad look in his eyes. A mass of dark-clothed wearing men surrounding a much smaller group of Fireflies. They had all fallen silent, though some Fireflies seemed excited at his appearance.

"Everybody, GET THE FUCK BACK!" he shouted at the assailants. His shotgun was aimed around wildly.

"Elijah, what are you doing here? Go, run, dammit!" Kyren's frantic voice broke through his anger.

"Elijah, listen to him! Don't let them take us all down." That was Sarah's voice calling from behind the crowd. Her voice sounded like it was weakened and shrill. _'Does… she know about Nathan? I'm sorry, Sarah. But I won't let anyone else get lost to these crazy fuckers.'_

"Fuck no! I leave, we're all leaving!" he replied through gritted teeth.

"You're damn right we are", he heard from behind him. Looking back for a moment, Elijah saw that Ashley had spoken, her dark hair flowing with the breeze, showing her eyes filled with determination. Her machete was raised threateningly at the men in front of them. Seconds later, the fourteen other Fireflies had rushed through, prepared for combat. Assault rifles, sniper rifles, machetes, and pistols all aimed at their enemy.

"Well, well… look at this. We got some new friends, it appears", a voice in the mass called out.

"Wasn't expecting this. Does this mean the contest is off?" someone questioned.

"Not for us to decide", a reply was heard.

"The fuck are you all doing? Shoot them!" another person shrieked.

"We don't make that call, Eugene. And neither do you", said another.

Elijah felt his mind working. _'Eugene? Eu… motherfucker!' _his mind shouted. His grip on the shotgun tightened. _'The bastard that ran off and got that Marauder who chased me around the college. He's smart to hide behind them all. I would… do some very, very bad things to him.'_

"I suggest you move the fuck back before I start shooting. And I'll start with you first, motherfucker." Elijah pointed the gun at a random person. It boosted his morale to see the man flinch back.

"Elijah, goddammit, man! You shou-", his best friend began.

"He should what?" a man asked from afar. One by one, the sea began to part, reluctantly. At the center besides the group of disheveled looking Fireflies, a man walked past them, taking the time to clap Kyren on the shoulder in a friendly manner.

Elijah remembered the man's voice. The voice that so casually threatened those Hunters and burned a recently dead body.

This was the leader of the Marauders.

"You. I'd like to talk with you", he said to Elijah, his gloved hand pointed at Elijah. Elijah felt the shotgun in his hands shake a bit, but he steeled himself.

"No way. I'm leaving with my friends. Let them go and this'll go off without a hitch. Sound good?" Elijah replied, his voice grave and angry. The boss didn't seem to like that, evident by his features contorting to disappointment. He slicked his dark brown hair back and thought for a moment.

"Do… do you see how many of men are here? There's… like less than thirty of you all. Looks like… nine of you actually have guns. If something were to happen, you'd be the first on the ground bleeding out and watching me and mine kill off your friends. I don't think you want that, man. Really, come on and talk with me in my office. It wouldn't kill you, would it?" the leader of the Marauders replied coyly. Suddenly, a small red beam found itself directed straight at the support crafter's chest. His heart rate quickened.

"_And in your final moments, when your 'family' lays dead all around you… you'll know that you can't do anything but accept it as is."_

Elijah's heart faltered. He was regretting rushing through without a plan. _'Damn it, this is…'_

The shotgun was slowly lowered and tossed down.

"Ah, great man. Don't worry, your friends'll be fine with mine. I promise. Right, lads?"

"Yes, sir", the Marauder underlings replied in unison. Focusing on something else to hold the terror in his heart down, Elijah noticed that the man before him was young. _'Like not even in his 30's but he's the boss around here? How'd he get all these men under him?'_

"Elijah, what are you doing?" Marlene asked him, worried. Elijah could barely hear her over the sound of his own heartbeat.

"Keeping you all alive", the boss replied for him. "I just want to talk. Maybe play a good game of chess. You like chess, 'Elijah'?"

He did but wasn't exactly feeling too welcomed to answer. "Of course you do. Who doesn't?" the Marauder continued. He saw the crestfallen look on the support crafter's face. He walked closer to him.

"No need to be worried, my friend", he said, putting his arm around him and leading Elijah through the crowd of Marauders, his Firefly allies all too shocked and horrified at how they were being broken down. Kyren stepped forward but was held back by Sarah. Walking past them, he saw that it looked as though her eye was blackened. Being closer allowed Elijah to see that Kyren's lip was bleeding. His eyes narrowed and his fists clenched, knuckles cracking. Elijah turned away from them and looked up to see the Marauder was smiling at him.

"No need indeed."

**A/N: We're going backwards on the word length. Maybe that's a good thing?**

**What do you think about Elijah trying to take charge and rushing through the bushes into a crowd of Marauders? Brave or just really, really dumb? "Why not both?"**

**Trophies Gained: 'Safety In Numbers- **_**Added to the group' **_**and 'Nothing Ventured…- **_**Put the group in a dangerous situation at the sake of others'.**_

**Chapter 7: 'Game of Kings' to be released… soon (WTTW).**

**Remember the speech given at the beginning of The Last of Us? Yeah… it was pretty damn deep.**

**#datSoAreferencetho**

**I gotta thank you all for reading and I hope you have a good night. Peace.**

**Sincerely, **

**Conduit42**


	7. Game of Kings

Chapter 7- Game of Kings

**Inside the lead Marauder's tent, 12:13am…**

_**Two days before the fight began…**_

"Whoo… cold out, isn't it?" the man chuckled out to Elijah. He held the tent entrance for the support crafter to enter. Elijah hesitated.

"Well, come in, man. Plenty of space, nice and warm. What's the problem?" the Marauder asked.

Elijah only looked back. He saw his friends being herded away to some different location. Five Marauders with assault rifles stripped the Fireflies of their weapons and backpacks and led them between two tents and they disappeared. One of them looked back, the Firefly that Elijah argued with earlier, and glared at him. The crafter could only look down and walk into the tent.

"Where are you taking them?" he demanded. The Marauder turned to him.

"Ah, nowhere interesting. They're going to that moving truck of yours. More on that later though."

'_The moving truck? Hmm…' _"What'll happen to them there?"

"Nothing interesting. I told the boys to treat them well. If they misbehave, well… that's their fault. Hopefully, they trust you well enough to get them out of the situation you put them in."

Elijah glared at the younger man. "I didn't tell the damn Hunters to take away part of my group, did I?"

"But you did jump through the bushes like a maniac thinking you could've got them all out, right? I would've cut my loses and moved on if I were you."

"That's you. Not my style", Elijah replied, his eyes flared with anger.

"No, no, I suppose not." The Marauder paused and began to search around his large tent, knocking a few things over in the process. The light from the leader's flashlight illuminated the entire tent. "But that's neither here nor there, friend. We…" he reached down and picked up what looked to Elijah as a briefcase and visibly brightened.

"Ah. We have a game to play." Elijah looked at the briefcase in his hands skeptically.

"Excuse me? Game?" he questioned.

"Uh, yeah. Game. I was led to believe you coming in here meant you wanted to play a game of chess. Change your mind?" the man asked him. His eyes narrowed, almost in a challenging manner.

'_Never came in here for that. I only did this so you wouldn't have your attack dogs kill us all, you motherfu-.' _"No, of course not. Let's… play", Elijah said through gritted teeth.

The Marauder smiled. "Good man. Walk over here", he said, gesturing to a set of chairs and a table. _'Planned to be here for a while, huh?' _he thought to himself, but said nothing.

Elijah sat down and waited impatiently as the Marauder slowly set the pieces onto a glass game board. The support crafter drummed his fingers on his cargo pants anxiously, looking around the tent. It appeared he was right to assume the Marauders planned to be around for a long time. Besides the tables and chairs, a portable heater was seen in the background, spraying warm air around the area. What looked like comic books were knocked around haphazardly after the search for chess set. _'Savage Starlight? Great story, even better movie.'_

The only thing in the tent that wasn't so carelessly placed was a picture frame standing atop a small foldable table. Elijah honed in on the picture. From afar, it looked to him that the man setting the pieces was in it. His arm was placed around another man's shoulder, someone slightly older than him, but looked almost like him. Elijah's eyes softened. _'Family of his? Maybe a brother?' _he wondered. He looked up in time to see The Marauder smile to himself as he reset the white pieces down on Elijah's side and the black pieces on his side. Elijah raised an eyebrow.

"What?" the Marauder asked. "I want you to go first."

"Right. Let's get this over with…" the Firefly replied.

"Whoa, whoa. Hold on now. We got some ground rules to set down."

"Ground rules? Like?" Elijah asked.

"You see, I couldn't help but notice… a few of my men went out, waiting for a shipment of… well, it don't matter much now. The point is, my men were out and haven't come back yet. And I think you had a little something to do with that", the man said, pointing at him.

Elijah, covered in blood, all over his hoodie and drying on his neck, looked at him. "What makes you say that?"

"Just a hunch, pal", he replied, eyeing the hoodie. Elijah crossed his arms and glared at him.

"So, seeing as how I'm not getting what I want, something's gotta give."

"What the hell do you want from us?" the support crafter demanded. The Marauder smiled widely.

"I… want a few of your Firefly pals to stay behind." Elijah's cold gaze hardened. He was about to speak until the Marauder continued. "Now, now. 'No fucking way. You'll have to kill me if you want them'", he said, lowering his voice to mock Elijah's. "I don't want to hear that from you, pal. Here's what I'm thinking. If you win this game, I'll load you up with gasoline. For your moving truck", he added when Elijah looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"I'll let all of your friends get crammed into the back of a van and you can just get back on the road. But if I win, you'll be leaving with a much smaller group."

"That's not going to happen", Elijah growled.

"I suggest you win then. You do and I'll keep my word. I tend to do that."

Elijah stared at the pieces. Then he moved the pawn that was in front of the rook on his right side forward twice.

"Hmm. Off we go" he heard the Marauder reply.

Nine minutes later, Elijah had both of his enemy's Knights and a Bishop, while the Marauder had taken most of Elijah's Pawns.

It was Elijah's turn again. He had his hand covering his bottom chin, slightly scratching his unshaven beard.

"I don't think we've introduced ourselves", the Marauder spoke out, outstretching his hand over the game. "The name's Ryan. I recall hearing it's… Elijah?" Elijah looked up briefly at the hand then back down.

"It is", the support crafter replied quietly.

"Okay, okay. Want to focus on the game then. That's cool, Eli."

Elijah ignored him and continued to find a way to win this match they had. But another problem kept him from thinking properly.

'_No way this bastard's just gonna let us go. Why would he? He needs test subjects and a whole bunch of them are all corralled in a moving van. I can't fuck this up any more than I have'_, Elijah thought. If he didn't win…

"Hey, don't mean to rush you but… hurry the hell up", Ryan's voice commanded.

Elijah shook his head and moved a pawn of his in front of a Bishop threatening his Knight.

"Well dang. So much for the grand plan", Ryan said as he sent his rook into play, having it placed right along Elijah's Knight.

Elijah actually smirked at the move and removed the rook from play with his own Bishop. The Marauder clapped slowly and focused on a plan of attack.

"You know why I like this game so damn much?" Ryan asked him.

'_I don't give a fuck, if I'm being honest.' _"Why?" Elijah asked instead of saying his true thoughts.

"Because… well, anyone can play it. Look at me. Does it look like I'd play something like this?" the Marauder leader asked. Elijah stared at him. With his dark brown hair slicked back, a light amount of facial hair, hazel eyes and strong features that played with his know-it-all attitude, he looked more like someone who was just finishing college. Which led Elijah to wonder how he was in charge even more.

"I don't look very strong, do I?" he continued. "That's because, here's a secret for you, I'm really not. But I'm smart. No matter what anyone else says, I have that going for me. That's why I'm running this here." Elijah raised an eyebrow.

"If I asked someone else, what would they say?" the support crafter asked him. Elijah's eyes shifted quickly to the picture then back at him. Ryan grinned.

"Who cares what they think. The point is, I can play this because with chess, you don't need brute strength to win. All that'll do is get you to smash the piece through the table out of frustration." The Marauder chuckled. "And the name of it really gets to me. 'King's Game'… ha! Really makes you feel like a king, right?"

"If you say so", Elijah replied.

"I do say so. And I'm right. Haven't you ever felt like a king, having all that power over those people? Getting them to believe that you brought them way the hell out here for some kind of secret mission. To what? Save the world? The world's fucked, man. Why can't you damn Fireflies just let go?"

'_Like I'm in charge? Ha, ain't that a joke…' _"Is that the motto with you Marauders? 'The world's fucked, why not make it worse?' You're worse than the first Marauder I met", the support crafter bit back at him.

"First Marauder, eh? What was it like when you killed him?" Ryan asked. "Was it a challenge? That blood you got all over you. Is most of that his… or yours?" he continued when Elijah showed his confusion. The hungry glint his eyes disturbed Elijah. But something inside him made that look make him feel angry.

"What makes you think I killed him?" Elijah questioned.

"I gave a shoot-on-sight order on all Fireflies and anyone seen collaborating with them. Except for Fireflies in our house." Elijah scoffed.

"After he killed my friend and sang some damn song while chasing me, it felt real good to bash his face in with that shotgun over there", Elijah said nodding his head to his weapon now resting on a set of books, aimed at Ryan's back. _'Now just go off and save me the trouble', _Elijah thought. His revolver was dropped into his backpack and set with the shotgun.

"Song? Oh no…" the Marauder said. He actually looked visibly concerned and stared at him horrified. Elijah was confused.

"Y-you… killed the song guy? No, damn you! You're a monster, Elijah. How could you deprive of us of the only man here who knows any good songs and willing to entertain us all with them? You monster…" he shouted at Elijah. He laughed when the support crafter couldn't hide his look of disgust.

"I'm messing with you, Elijah! I don't care about that dude, even if he was the most culturally enlightened guy I ever met. Did you get a chance to hear him sing 'Ridin' Dirty' before you killed him? Pretty nice impression of… damn, what's that one guy's name? Charmander or something?" he asked Elijah.

"Chamillionaire", Elijah corrected.

"Right, right! Oh! And he was really good at-"

"When were you going to play your next move? Or is this your way of giving up? Talking about unimportant bullshit and trying to distract people so they don't see the flaws in you and your playing style?" Elijah interrupted. Ryan narrowed his eyes.

"Fine then." He moved his second rook onto the field and sent it halfway down the chessboard. His look darkened when he realized the mistake. Elijah slammed his rook into Ryan's knocking it over.

"Damn, how about that?" he whispered to the Marauder.

"Don't get cocky, Elijah. You get cocky, bad things might happen." The threat was thinly-veiled. _'Ah. An insecure child with too much power on him. Press him enough and he'll get reckless. Good to know.' _Elijah thought smugly. He knew what needed to happen now. Elijah eyed the board. It was slowly thinning out on his opponent's side.

Ryan grabbed a pawn and moved it forward twice. He sighed then looked at Elijah. "Why bother? It's been three years and there's no way that this shit'll ever get better. I mean, come on. Do you really think that we'll ever get better?"

"Not when we have people like you out here, killing indiscriminately. And fucking around with the virus? I mean, why would you ev-"

"Where did you hear that?" Ryan's tone was dangerously low. His gaze was as cold as the night air.

"What's the problem? The way Hunters and your men have been talking about it, well... it's like we missed a memo."

"They… must have said a lot." Ryan stood up and walked towards Elijah's backpack and moved it. Elijah eyes widened, worried. _'This might just be a problem.'_

Instead of picking up Elijah's loaded shotgun, the Marauder picked up a medium-sized wooden chest. He seemed to struggle a bit. Walking back over, he slid the chess game over to the side and set the box down. He pressed a button on it and it clicked open. Ryan smiled to himself before he turned it to Elijah.

Elijah wasn't as happy to see inside.

Numerous pendants on chains were in the box. Some of them showed names with numbers beneath them. One in particular caught Elijah's eyes first.

A pendent with the symbol of a Firefly.

"How…" Elijah couldn't manage any other words.

"How did I get so many in this thing? A lot of hard work, man. I had to apply myself. But you should see my older bro's. He's got more than I do. By the end of the year we're supposed to meet up and compare our chains. It's going to be a challenge but… I think I can do it." He looked up from the box and saw the Firefly's distraught look.

He added, "I might just get thirty more tonight. What do you think, Elijah?"

Elijah's jaw clenched. "I think we need to finish our game first."

"Fair enough, I suppose. But do you know why I have these?" he asked him politely.

Silence.

"These are all the Fireflies that gave their lives to my cause. Sometimes we go out on little trips east to make some new friends. We come across Hunters and Fireflies, but it's more fun to see the Fireflies turn."

'_Turn?'_

Elijah got up and slammed his fist down on the table. Ryan stepped back with his hand behind him, attempting to stare the Firefly down. _'Gun. Shiv. Won't matter much to me if this prick keeps pushing me!' _

"Do you want to keep playing games with me, Firefly? Or do you want to see whether or not I get to kill your friends?" he asked him, his hazel eyes were glowing to the support crafter. To Elijah, it looked as though they were lit with fiery arrogance. _'He and the doctor should get together. They pull that off so damn perfectly.'_

Elijah lowered himself back down into his seat. Someone entered the tent.

"Is there a problem here… sir?" another one of Ryan's underlings asked him, his machete was positioned behind Elijah. The Firefly felt his pulse quicken, his mind raising to figure out any way to avoid being stabbed in case anything started.

"Nah, man. It's all cool. No need to be worried. Am I right, Eli?" Ryan asked, a friendly smile plastered on his face. The arrogant look still shone.

"No need indeed", Elijah replied, mocking the Marauder boss' tone. Ryan clapped his hands and laughed.

"Ah, this guy! He's learning!" Ryan said. He looked at the Marauder with the machete. "You heard the man. We're all good in here. Go check on his friends, why don't you."

The Marauder hesitated. "But sir…" he fell silent when Ryan's smile faded, his eyes shifting to a glare. "Y-yes sir."

"Good boy", Ryan taunted. The Marauder swallowed hard and stepped out of the tent. Elijah looked at Ryan incredulously.

"What?" he demanded.

Elijah had to bite his tongue to stop himself from letting out a torrent of violent insults and hateful thoughts. "It's still your move, Ryan."

"Hold on, hold on, I'm thinkin'…" his reply was whispered. He breathed in and exhaled. "Time for the big guns, man", he said as he moved his queen onto the field.

Elijah rolled his eyes and thought on his next move.

"Ah, fuck…" the support crafter whispered. Another piece lost to the rampage of the queen.

"Come on, you're better than this. Oh, and uh, check, pal."

Elijah exhaled and reached for his king. Now that most of his defense was diminished, he was forced to move it away from it's original position, behind one of his last few pawns. _'If he were to come take this pawn out, I could sneak his queen with my knight. Come on, jackass. Fuck this one up' _he begged silently. It was clear, the Marauder didn't take his time with scanning the board for any potential traps Elijah could've had for him. That's all Elijah had to go on, now.

"On the run, I see. Is this foreshadow of what's to come? I wonder…" his opponent had said in a dramatic tone. He took the bait and knocked the pawn down, also taking Elijah's king down as well.

"Whoops. Did you just forfeit the match?"

"No", the crafter said, his tone barely audible. He just picked the king back up and focused on the game again. _'Don't kill the bastard. Don't kill the bastard. Do not tear his throat out'_, Elijah commanded himself. He reached over and struck back with his knight taking the queen out.

"And the tables turn…" Ryan continued narrating. Elijah shook his head and watched him consider his options. A buzzing was heard beneath the table.

"Sss-sir? Can you hear me?" a gruff voice rang out. Elijah narrowed his eyes as he reached to his waist and pulled back a black walkie-talkie. He pressed a red button on the side of it and spoke. "Go for Ryan. Is there a problem?" he asked.

"The Fireflies are gettin' antsy. Some of them are asking about some… 'Elijah' fellow. I'm guessin' the one in there with you?"

"Ah, my homeboy Eli! We're just enjoying a friendly game here. Tell 'em to calm down."

"Sir, that's what I was just sayin' but for some reason, they don't want to listen to reason. Should I put one of 'em down? Keep 'em in line?" To his horror, Ryan put his hand on his chin as though he were truly considering it.

Elijah's eyes widened. "N-no! Why would you do that? You said you like to keep your word. Keep it and let's finish this game of chess."

Ryan clicked his tongue. "Fine, fine. Wasn't gonna do it anyway but you're definitely right." He raised the walkie-talkie back up. "Nah, leave 'em be. Tell them we'll be done soon. If they keep up their bullshit then you waste 'em. Got it?"

"Yes, sir." The buzzing came back then ended.

"We're almost done now, bro. Come on now."

They were trying to stare each other down now. They both put up a good fight for what felt like hours but now it was time to end it. Elijah's king stood tall with a pawn, a rook, and a knight left to guard it. Ryan wasn't as fortunate, with only a pawn and his king left alive.

Ryan wisely moved his king out of check and was slowly getting closer to a corner on Elijah's right.

"On the run, huh? Just don't get backed into any corners, you hear me?" Elijah finally felt secure enough to taunt back. _'It's over for this bastard. Just keep running like the coward you are, pal. Make this more fun for me.'_

The Marauder grimaced at the space on the board. His hand was clenched tightly. Surveying his facial features, Elijah could see that he was pretty annoyed at the loss.

Still, he fought on. After Elijah pushed his rook down the board to where Ryan's king was and said "Check", all Ryan did was move to the king on the right of his pawn. A weak attempt at a shield.

Elijah moved his knight closer to the pawn. If Ryan were to move it one more time, he would've been able to take it away. "Feels good, doesn't it?" the Marauder questioned him.

Elijah looked up from the board and saw him toying around with his king, spinning it in circles. "What does?" he replied.

"Don't be fucking stupid. You know, winning over the Marauders." Elijah raised an eyebrow. "That's what this is, isn't it? King Firefly vs King Marauder. This match here decides how much longer you and the empire you've built get to survive."

'_At what point does this dumbass realize he got beat by a crafter?' _Inside, Elijah laughed. _'Maybe it's for the best if he doesn't…' _

"Who knows? Maybe you'll make some grand comeback and take me down. Of course, I've a good reason to doubt that", he pressed him, looking for a reaction.

"Giving up on me so soon? That's a mistake right there", Ryan said quietly. He looked so mad Elijah wanted to laugh at him.

"Show me what you've got then."

The Marauder took the bait. He pushed his pawn forward once and removed his hand from it, ending his turn. Elijah's eyes lit up at the opportunity. He took his knight and used it to knock the pawn over mockingly.

"I believe your king's about to die."

Ryan exhaled loudly and moved his king back. "Elijah…"

The support crafter's smile slowly faded.

"During all of your arrogant, bullshit taunting, did you ever consider to ask me the most important question?" Ryan finished.

"I've been too busy making sure you didn't get the chance to kill my friends so… no." Elijah replied. Ryan chuckled then looked at his king.

"If you're not going to ask, then you won't hear it from me", he warned him.

''_Most important question'? Are you kidding me? I've got plenty of important questions to ask: how did you get the Hunters to work for you? How many of you are there? What so special about the 'special ammo'? How did an asshole like you get in charge?' _Elijah wondered.

He settled on the first. "The Hunters. What do you have on them that'd forcing them to work for you?"

He seemed to ponder this as he watched Elijah move his knight closer to his king. "Hmm, what do I have on them? Good question. Maybe it's the fact that we outnumber them by… A LOT. Maybe we have something that they want and are willing to turn against one another to get it."

"Your 'special ammo'?"

Ryan looked up surprised momentarily but returned to his cool demeanor. "No. I wouldn't trust them with that at all. Maybe something of less worth to me."

"Like what? Test subjects?"

"No, no, no. That's why they're here. To get more of you for me. In exchange, I stop raiding their communities or giving their locations to the military."

Elijah glowered. "Why would you do something like that to them? It doesn't matter how they are, in the end, they want to survive. Just like you, just like me, and just like everyone here insane enough to deal with your crazy ass."

"Insults. Please, keep 'em coming." Ryan moved his king into a corner. Elijah slid the rook across to put it in check. Ryan moved it down one to attempt to save it. Elijah huffed and paused.

"Just… why would you do all of this? To prove some kind of point? No one here-" Elijah began.

The Marauder slammed his fist down on the table. "If I were you, I'd stop worrying about everyone else and focus on saving my own life! Just a thought."

"If you think you can keep these people here with fear you've got another thing coming. Press them enough and they will turn on you", Elijah warned him.

Ryan sneered. "Speaking from experience?"

"Speaking with common sense. In the end, no one will be there to help you."

"These 'people', as you like to refer to them as, all fear one place more than anything. Crossing me gets them sent east, to do some… reform work."

Elijah's ears perked up. He pushed the knight forward again, landing it in front of the king. _'East? What's there for them besides Fireflies and the military?'_

Ryan was forced into a corner. He raised his hand to act but, lowered it slowly. "Motherfucker…" he whispered.

Elijah looked down and he let out a relieved sigh.

In front of him, the knight safeguarded the king from moving. The rook stopped any movement downwards. And, as to add insult to injury, the pawn was there as well. Ryan could've tried to take it, but then he would have to deal with Elijah's rook, still keeping him effectively under…

"Checkmate. I win…." the Firefly whispered the last part incredulously. He had won.

Ryan looked at the board his hand balled into a fist. Elijah's eyes narrowed, expecting the worst.

Then he clapped and laughed. "Goddamn, that was impressive! Man, do you know how it feels to finally have a good, decent game in a while? Before you came, I was just about to throw this damn thing out since no one here was capable of challenge. I bow to you, Elijah Quinn!"

"How did…" the crafter began, standing up.

"That nice, shiny pendent of yours. Damn, would've been nice to add that to my collection. 'The pendent of the Firefly King'. I wouldn't even bother collecting more, I would've won against my bro." Elijah glared. "Ah well. Can't have it all, unfortunately." Ryan stood up and grabbed Elijah's backpack and the shotgun. Then, he walked to the tent flap and held it open for him.

"Let's go check on your friends, shall we?"

Walking past the Marauders, Elijah could feel the _emptiness_ coming from the men. They dutifully stood straight as Ryan led him past, but when he looked at one, he could see the fear in his eyes.

Elijah walked past them, ignoring the looks he was being given. _'What's stopping all of them from fighting this crazy bastard? There's over a hundred of them here and they're all afraid of one man? Nah, fuck that', _he thought, scornfully. _'I don't care. Just want my friends back and we're leaving all of these fucks behind.'_

"Sir? Did he…" one Marauder that approached the two of them began quietly, almost afraid of the answer.

Ryan just waved it off and smiled. "Yeah, this guy knew his stuff. I might been better if I had better people to practice against. Ah well… nothing to be done now."

'_He just really passed this over on to them? How's it their fault he lost? You're just not that good, friend.'_

"Open the van up", Ryan commanded, pulling Elijah out of his thoughts. Two of the assault rifle carriers quickly moved to the back of the van. One unlatched the entrance while another stood guard with his gun aimed at it. Elijah's heart was racing now.

The back was pushed up and a few Fireflies stood up in anticipation. It was a moment before their eyes fell on Elijah and his half-heartened smile. _'I'm so sorry, you all. But now, we can-'_, he said to himself.

"Oh man, Elijah!" his childhood friend exclaimed. Kyren stepped out of the back and grabbed his shoulders. "What happen back there? Are you alright? Did you-?"

"He won. You can all go home now", the Marauder leader interrupted Kyren's rapid questioning. The Fireflies looked at Elijah. He couldn't even face the looks that some were giving him. But something occurred to him, allowing him to focus on something else.

"You promised us some gasoline for the van", he reminded the leader. Ryan snapped his fingers.

"Yes. I. Did", he said haltingly. "Can't believe I almost forgot. Crazy, right?" he joked with the crafter.

"Yeah, a real riot", Elijah replied. The boss laughed, prompting a few other Marauder to laugh as well. A few Fireflies shook their heads in disgust at the display.

The Marauder turned to one of the armed men. "You heard my friend here. Get some gas for them and fill the van up. Let them have a headstart."

Elijah's eyes widened. "What do you mean 'headstart'? I won that bullshit game back there. You said-"

"I said… I would let you all get on the road in your van, now refilled with gasoline. I didn't say anything about not having some more fun with you all", the Marauder's eyes shone with cruelty. Elijah could tell he was enjoying this.

However, Elijah wasn't. "No!" he shouted. "All of this right here…" he said, gesturing between the Fireflies and Marauders. "… is done with. If you come after us, I'll fucking-" the support crafter made the mistake of stepping forward, into his reach. Ryan took the shotgun and hit him, swung it like a club into his chest.

Elijah fell down and coughed. Kyren stepped forward and advanced on the boss but numerous guns rose up in defense of Ryan. Ryan himself, raised the shotgun up and aimed it at Kyren's head. Some of the Fireflies stepped out of the van to do something to help but were faced with many guns in there direction.

"See this, Elijah? You don't make the commands here. I do. Be grateful I'm letting go of some valuable resources here. We use some of our gasoline supply to stay warm at night. Now we'll suffer because of my kindness. Well… not me, that's for sure. But some people here might freeze tonight." He looked down at the crafter. "Sleep on that, pal."

"Motherfucker…" Elijah coughed out. Ryan laughed. He turned to the direction of the Marauders. "Would someone be so kind to get their belongings into the moving van? They're having a hard time moving and need our help." Ryan tossed the shotgun down in front of Kyren and stepped back.

Minutes later, the van was reloaded with gasoline and the back of the van was filled with the Fireflies' backpacks and weapons.

"Go on, now. Fly free, little bugs and drive safe", Ryan ordered. They didn't more incentive to clamor into the back of the moving van and sit themselves down, waiting for whatever to happen next.

"Elijah, get up, man. Come on", Kyren demanded. "You're getting up front with me." He took Elijah's arm over his shoulder and was half carrying-half leading him to the van's door.

He heard a scoff from behind. "Hmph, you're weak, Elijah. You don't have what it takes to lead these people. You'll be the reason they all die, not me."

"Who told you he was in-" someone quietly began. The Firefly who spoke quickly fell silent after someone hit them, hard in the shoulder.

"I'm driving, Kyren. Hurry up and get Elijah in the van", Marlene commanded him. Kyren muttered out an agreement and opened the door for the support crafter. Elijah climbed in slowly, his chest pained with a burning sensation. Elijah's head leaned against the cold window and looked through the mirror. Kyren slammed the back of the van shut and rushed to the front door. He climbed into the van, followed by Marlene.

"Are you going to be alright?" she asked him, concerned. Elijah nodded slightly and continued to stare at the mirror. There was a brief silence before the van's engine roared to life. The tires turned furiously to gain traction on the leaf covered ground, before slowly pushing forward. The van shook with each bump and contact with the trees' branches.

Elijah's eyes were heavy with sleep now. The last thing he saw before closing his eyes was Ryan holding his walkie-talkie to his mouth. He saw Elijah looking at him through the reflection and winked at him.

The crafter shut his eyes, drowsiness taking over.

**Trophy Gained: How It Was- **_**'Win a game of chess to settle a problem.'**_


End file.
